Senior pitcher Mason Miller struck out eight and allowed only one run while also knocking in three to help lead the Cougars to a 10-1 victory over Butler County.
The Bears threatened early in Tuesday evening’s game. Hunter McKee reached on an error by Dain Hawkins and was followed on the basepaths by a hit from Ross West and a hit-by-pitch of Carter Graham.
With the bases loaded and nobody out, assistant coach Buddy Hobby made a mound visit to his senior hurler. The visit seemed to work as Miller proceeded to strike out the next three Bears to strand runners on every base.
Grayson County wasted no time in going after the Butler County starting pitcher Ross West. Hawkins led off the bottom half of the opening frame with a base hit to right field before coming around to score on a Miller sacrifice fly.
The offense continued to have success in the second. Eli Watson had an infield hit to lead off the inning. Ethan Snyder, who to start the at-bat was asked to bunt, pulled back on a two-strike pitch to line a base hit into left field to put a pair on with nobody out.
Jeren VanMeter stepped into the box where he was hit by a pitch, the first of what would turn into three for the freshman, to load the bases for Gavin Childress. Childress proceeded to walk on four pitches to knock in a run to make it 2-0.
On the next pitch, Dain Hawkins lined a base hit up the middle plating both Snyder and VanMeter. Hawkins would later come around to score on a bloop base hit by Jaxon Higdon to make it a 5-0 lead for the blue and orange.
From there, it was all insurance runs to help out Miller. Gavin Childress added an RBI single in the 3rd. Miller plated a pair in the 6th with Watson and VanMeter each adding RBIs to give Grayson the 10-1 lead.
The Bears scored their lone run on a sixth-inning double from Kolton Hudson.
With the win, the Cougars improved to 10-14 on the season and 5-1 in 12th District play. Despite having a better overall district record than the Bears, Grayson County will be the #2 seed in the 12th District tournament due to a rule set in place by the KHSAA for this season that only the first district game counts towards district standings.
The blue and orange will be back in action on Thursday evening at 5:00 pm against LaRue County. Coverage of that game will be live via K105 Digital Productions beginning at 4:45 pm.
By Sam Gormley, Play-By-Play Announcer/Local Sports
Reach Sam at sam@k105.com
