LONDON — In a rematch that saw both teams deliver their best performances, South Laurel and Whitley County once again faced off, with the Colonels managing to secure another thrilling extra-inning victory for the second consecutive day on Tuesday.
A bases loaded walk to Ronald Osborne with two outs gave the Colonels a 3-2 lead, and they added another run one batter later to secure a 4-2 win.
“Good win against a good baseball team,” Whitley County coach Jeremy Shope said. “We played really good defense this series. We also pitched it well. We’re leaving too many guys on base. We have to get better if we want to do big things.”
Whitley County is now 15-3 overall, and 3-1 against 50th District opponents. The loss drops the Cardinals to 13-5 overall, and 2-2 against district competition.
South Laurel took a 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a two-run homer by Vince Sizemore.
Whitley County answered with a run in the second and third innings to tie the game at two apiece.
The game turned into another pitcher’s duel with Kip Allen lasting four innings for the Colonels, allowing two hits and two earned runs while striking out a batter. EJ Allen pitched the final four inning, including a scoreless bottom of the eighth while picking up the win. He allowed two hits and no earned runs while striking out two batters.
Keaton Smith tossed five innings for the Cardinals, allowing two hits, and two earned runs while striking out two batters. Will Alsip pitched a scoreless inning while Keaton Creech pitched two innings, allowing a hit and one earned run while striking out three batters.
Creech led South Laurel with two hits while Sizemore and Austin Byrd had one hit apiece.
Ty Petrey, Kip Allen, and Jason Nunley each had a run-scoring hit apiece for Whitley County while Osborne delivered an RBI. EJ Allen, and Landen Rose both finished with a hit and a run scored apiece while Dee Parker had a hit. Henry Bowling also scored a run in the win.
