By TIM HYDEN, CJ Sports Writer
Commonwealth Journal
July 14, 2008 09:51 pm
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After storming through Rockcastle County 12-1, and drubbing Casey County 17-4, the Lake Cumberland All-Stars stepped onto South Kentucky RECC Field at the Ward Correll Sports Complex Saturday with an opportunity to sweep through the double elimination District 5 Tournament undefeated.
It was an opportunity they wouldn’t let slip away.
The local stars rode the relief pitching of Gunnar Pitman and home runs by Will Hislope and Austin Cornett to a 10-3 win in a rematch against Rockcastle.
“This is a great bunch of kids,’ said head coach Neal Dockery. “They really came around for this tournament. They pitched well, hit the ball well, and played smart baseball.”
Despite having been blown out 12-1 in the opening round, Rockcastle County seemed intent on evening the score. After Jake Mink set the Lake Cumberland hitters down in the first inning, he belted his first of two doubles in the game, drawing first blood on the scoreboard, 1-0.
Lake Cumberland answered against Mink in the second, though. Four hits, including RBI singles by Chris Lynch and Pedro Herrera plated four runs to give LC the 4-1 lead.
But Rockcastle responded against Lake Cumberland starter Caleb Dockery. After Cody Brown and Gage Reynolds stroked back-to-back singles, Douglas Nicely drove them both home with a double, bringing them within a run, 4-3.
In the fourth, Lake Cumberland was able to drive Mink from the mound with a six-hit inning which included an RBI single by Colby Adkins, an RBI double by Gunnar Pittman, and a big two-run homer by Will Hislope. Another four runs pushed the lead to 8-3, and the LC All-Stars would not look back.
One reason they didn’t have to look back was because, with Gunnar Pittman coming in for relief in the third inning, there would be no coming from behind in this game. The big right hander served notice immediately that there was a new sheriff in town when he struck out Mink to start the bottom of the third. Pittman went on to strike out the first five hitters he faced, and retire Rockcastle in order in innings 3 through 5.
In the sixth, Hislope struck again with a deep double. Then Austin Cornett reached the promised land with a two-run homer of his own to left center field, extending the lead to 10-3, giving Lake Cumberland double figure scoring in each of the three tournament games.
Mink doubled off of Pittman to lead off the bottom of the sixth to be their first base runner since the second inning. But two strikeouts and a pop out later it became official.
The Lake Cumberland 12 and under All-Stars are now 5th District Cal Ripken Champions. So what’s next for the stars?
“We’re looking forward to representing this area in the state tournament next week,” said Dockery. His troops will go into battle again on Thursday night in Shelbyville. Their opponent will be the 4th District Champions, representing the Lexington District.
L.C. 040 402 = 10 13 0
R.C. 120 000 = 3 7 2
Lake Cumberland
Dockery 2IP, 3ER, 3R, 6H, 1K, 0BB
Pittman 4IP, 0ER, 0R, 1H, 9K, 1BB
2B—Pittman, Hislope
HR—Hislope, Cornett
SB—Dockery
RBI—Adkins 2, Cornett 2, Hislope 2, Herrera, Lynch, Pittman.
Rockcastle Co.
2B—Mink 2, Nicely
RBI—Nicely 2, Mink.
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