By MICHAEL CHILDERS, CJ Correspondent
Commonwealth Journal
Somerset —
The Lake Cumberland All-Stars gave the visiting Kenton County All-Stars ten good reasons that they deserve a shot to win the State Tournament. In the opening round of the East Kentucky 12-Year Old Cal Ripken State Tournament, the Lake Cumberland All-Stars breezed past Kenton County by a final of 10-0 on Wednesday night at the Ward Correll Sports Complex.
The contest remained close until the fourth inning, when Lake Cumberland blew this open, plating seven runs. In the fifth, LC added two runs to make the score 10-0, ending the contest with the ten-run mercy rule.
After taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third with a Trevor Howard solo home run to center field, Lake Cumberland went ahead 8-0 with a seven-run fourth inning. Lake Cumberland, the District 5 champion, used great base-running tactics to take down Kenton County, the District 6 champion. Kenton County starter Walker Terry struggled at the beginning of the inning, then was replaced by Dylan Newman who couldn’t seem to get going either.
With one out, Jacob Johnson singled to jump start the Lake Cumberland scoring spree. Four straight batters - Dylan Shadoan, Evan Saindon, Logan Combs, and Peyton Gover - were then walked. Johnson would score on a passed ball, Shadoan would score on a wild pitch, Saindon would steal home, and an overthrow scored Combs. Gover would give Lake Cumberland a 6-0 lead after scoring on contact from Landon Powell, who would later score on a wild pitch. Howard, who was walked, scored on an RBI double from Logan Ramsey. After sending thirteen batters to the dish, Lake Cumberland was now out front by a score of 8-0.
The All-Stars of Lake Cumberland would get a pair of runs in the fifth, ending the contest by a final score of 10-0. Wade Purvis began the fifth after reaching base on an error. A Gover walk and a Powell single loaded the bases up for Howard, who was hit by a pitch. Purvis scored the ninth run after Howard was hit. Gover would score the game’s tenth and final run after Devin Vaught was walked.
Combs picked up the ‘W’ for Lake Cumberland, giving up a lone hit in two innings of work. Combs also struck out three batters.
Powell was credited with the save. In three innings on the mound, Powell gave up one hit, while striking out six batters.
The pitching tandem of Combs and Powell gave up two combined hits in the contest.
For Kenton County, Terry was saddled with the loss. Newman and Jacob Harney also made appearances for the All-Stars from Kenton County.
At the plate, Howard went a perfect two-for-two with a home run and a single with two RBI’s. He was also walked and hit by a pitch.
The Lake Cumberland All-Stars were back in action last night, but will hit the diamond again today at the Ward Correll Sports Complex.
KC 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 2 2
LC 0 0 1 7 2 - 10 6 0
WP- Powell (LC).
LP- Terry (KC).
RBI- Howard 2, Powell, Vaught, Ramsey (LC).
2B- Newman (KC). Ramsey (LC).
HR- Howard (LC).
•••
GEORGETOWN — The Lake Cumberland 10-year-old All-Stars breezed by Shelby County, 12-1 in their state tournament first round match-up.
Lake Cumberland pitchers Seth Bennett and Chase Walker teamed up for a one-hit pitching effort, as Bennett was credited with the win.
Offensively, Lake Cumberland was led by Chase Madden, who collected two hits, two runs scored and two runs batted in. Joshua Cornett drove in two runs, Caleb Wonn drove in two runs, Davis Miller drove in two runs and Chase Walker scored a team-high three runs.
Lake Cumberland banged out four runs in the home half of the first inning, which was paced by a two-run RBI single by Madden and two Shelby County errors.
With Lake Cumberland holding a slight 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the fourth, the local all-stars exploded for eight runs to end the game in ‘mercy rule’ conditions.
David Miller’s two-run RBI single and Joshua Cornett’s two-run RBI triple ignited the Lake Cumberland fourth-inning rally.
Lake Cumberland advanced to the semifinals of the winner’s bracket, where they will take on Montgomery County on Saturday, July 17 at 10 a.m., at Georgetown’s Suffoletta Park.
