Published: May 11, 2008 01:51 pm            

Harrison County topples Somerset

Somerset — Somerset and Harrison County have been trying desperately to play each other all season. They hoped to meet in the finals of an earlier tournament this season, but it didn’t happen. Then last weekend they were scheduled to play each other in a tournament in Lexington, but rain altered the schedule and the two teams failed to meet again.

Saturday they finally met in the round robin of the Cumberland Valley Bank Classic. Why, you might ask, would they schedule in a way that kept potentially pitting them against one another? It probably has something to do with the fact that both the Thorobreds and the Briar Jumpers are leading contenders to capture their respective regions, and this year the draw is such that the two regions would square off first.

But it is Harrison County who has played like a region favorite for most of the season. They came into the game against Somerset with a 24-4 record, two of those losses being to juggernaut programs out of Florida.

Harrison would send out freshman Logan Dailey to face the Jumpers. Though having started only three games on the mound all season, Dailey had pitched 21 innings, allowing zero runs on only one hit! Somerset would counter with senior Chris Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick looked great early on, retiring the first six batters he faced. Meanwhile, the Jumpers threatened to jump on the freshman early. Somerset loaded the bases in the first inning, but came away with nothing.

Harrison County jumped on the board first in the third inning when #9 hitter Christian Chasteen singled home a run to make it 1-0.

Somerset tied it up in the bottom of the third when John Cole led off with a double and came around to score on a pair of wild pitches.

“I thought Fitzpatrick pitched great,” said Somerset Head Coach Phillip Grundy. “We just couldn’t get any runs for him to work with. We had the chance to jump out on top and we let them off the hook in the first. We scored in the third after a leadoff double, but we needed wild pitches to get him in. It’s frustrating to see our guys run out there and continue to get themselves out. We need to get better situational hitting out of our seniors. That’s all there is to it. We need to adjust from at-bat to at-bat and not wait two weeks before we straighten something out. We don’t have two weeks any more.”

Harrison added single runs in the fourth and fifth to build the lead to 3-1, then tacked on two final runs in the sixth, aided by an unfortunate error. With one on and no outs, catcher Josh Moss laid down a sacrifice bunt. However, the throw to first hit him in the shoulder and all hands were safe. Then back-to-back singles by Jared and Branden Martin made it a 5-1 ball game. Fitzpatrick fought back to get the next three hitters, but the damage was already done.

Offensively, Somerset could manage only two paltry hits on the game, and closed out with a whimper as the freshman Dailey retired 13 of the last 15 hitters he faced, on the way to a 5-1 Harrison County victory.

“We just didn’t seem top play with any enthusiasm,” said Grundy, whose team fell to 15-12. “Their pitcher did a great job. Give him credit. But I don’t think he threw a curve ball the entire game that we didn’t swing at. We have to learn to take that pitch and wait for a fastball we can drive somewhere. If you go up there swinging at first pitch curve balls the whole game, and never adjust, you’re going to get beat. It’s that simple. There is no such thing as a good curve ball hitter. I don’t care what level you play at.

“Harrison County is a team we hope to see again. They are definitely a state power, and they are favored to win their region. We are in a group of about eight teams with the capability to win the 12th Region, and if we get the chance to meet them again down the road, hopefully we’ll give them a better game than we did today. I think we’d all love to have that chance, but we have a lot of business to take care of before we can think that far ahead.”

Harrison County is familiarizing themselves with several 12th Region teams this weekend. They beat Pulaski County 10-0 on Friday, and played Southwestern in the other match-up of the Cumberland Valley Bank Classic, after the game against Somerset.

As for the Briar Jumpers and their Senior Day: they are scheduled to have it Monday against Cumberland County at Charlie Taylor Field, weather permitting. The seniors will be honored between the JV and Varsity games.





HC 001 112 0 — 5 7 0

SHS 001 000 0 — 1 2 2





Harrison County—

Dailey 7IP, 1ER, 1R, 2H, 4K, 3BB, 2HBP, 2WP

2B—Moss, Chasteen

RBI—B. Martin 2, Chasteen, Fowler



Somerset—

Fitzpatrick 7IP, 4ER, 5R, 7H, 7K, 1BB, 1WP

2B—Cole

SB—Cole, Sears, Fitzpatrick, Dockery, Price

        

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