Published: July 22, 2008 12:55 pm            

Lake Cumberland All-Stars finish as State Runner-Ups

Lexington — The Lake Cumberland Cal Ripken 11-Year-Old Stars won their first three games of the East Kentucky State Tournament at Veterans Park and went on to finish as the East Kentucky State Runner-Up and advanced to the Ohio Valley Regional Tournament.

In the first game on Wednesday, LC came out hot by scoring 13 runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back in route to a 21-2 drubbing of the Montgomery County All Star team from Mount Sterling.

Montgomery County managed only 5 hits and 2 runs, all in the second inning. Ross Perry picked up the win for LC and John Wilson came in and pitched the final two innings of no hit baseball to shut the door.

Meanwhile at the plate, LC pounded out an amazing 20 hits and took advantage of 7 errors to score 21 runs. LC was led by Jacob Pelston who went 3-for-3 with a two-run homer and two doubles. Lucas Turpin had a two run homer, two singles and four RBIs. Clayton Phelps had a solo home run, a double, a single and three RBIs. Riley Hall had two doubles and a single. Ross Perry added two doubles while Trevor Howard and John Wilson each had a double and a single. Also, Jacob Burchett and Austin Smiddy chipped in with a single each.

In the second game on Thursday, LC took on the Middletown team from Louisville and, early on, LC appeared to look flat from the contest the night before.

LC managed two hits in the top of the first but was unable to put any runs on the board. In the bottom of the first however, Middletown scored two quick runs courtesy of a walk, two throwing errors and then a base hit to right field.

The game was back and forth each inning with Middletown maintaining a one run lead until LC was able to break things open in the top of the fourth inning. Cody Carrender led off the inning with a double. Then, Riley Hall singled to tie the game at 4-4. After Clayton Phelps singled to advance Hall to third, Lucas Turpin singled to left field to drive in Hall for the go-ahead run. Then, after Ross Perry reached on an error to third base, Trevor Howard sent a shot over the center field fence for a grand slam homerun. Jacob Pelston added another homer in the fifth inning to put icing on the cake.

This took the wind out of Middletown’s sails and they never recovered. Cody Carrender came on in the fourth inning to pitch three innings of no hit baseball to close out the game and pick up the save. Riley Hall picked up the win for LC.

Once the bats got rolling for LC, they again managed to bang out sixteen hits, led by Trevor Howard with the grand slam home run and two singles. Jacob Pelston also had the solo home run and a single. Riley Hall, Jacob Burchett and Cody Carrender each had a double and a single. Also, Lucas Turpin, Clayton Phelps and John Wilson each added a single for LC.

On Saturday, LC took on the defending East Kentucky and Ohio Valley Regional Champions, Southeastern Lexington, in the winner’s bracket finals. Once again, LC did what they needed to do to win. Southeast struck first in the first inning scoring one run after a walk and a sacrifice fly. However, LC tied the game in the bottom of the first with a solo home run by Jacob Burchett. In the second inning, Southeast took the lead again courtesy of their own home run ball, and held the lead until the fourth inning. Jacob Burchett hit his second home run of the game to bring LC to within one. Then, Ross Perry singled to bring in Clayton Phelps and tie the game. Lake Cumberland added another run in the fifth to take the lead when Jacob Burchett walked and Riley Hall singled to drive in Burchett and put LC ahead. Southeast had one last run in the top of the sixth as they scored two more runs on two hits, an error, and a couple of bad judgment calls by the LC defense. Now, going into the bottom of the sixth, LC was down one run and facing their last at bat. Vincent Boils led off the inning with a single up the middle and then advance to second on a wild pitch. Next, Lucas Turpin lined a single down the right field line to drive in Boils and tie the game. Brandon Lorman came in to pinch run for Turpin and advance to second on a ground out to third by Ross Perry. Then, Trevor Howard stepped to the plate and lined a ball over the right fielder’s head to drive in Lorman and score the winning run. In the end, LC prevailed 6 – 5.

Cody Carrender picked up the win on the mound for LC. Jacob Burchett led LC with two solo home runs, Lucas Turpin, Ross Perry, and Trevor Howard each had a single and an RBI, and Riley Hall, Clayton Phelps and Vincent Boils added a single each. Now, as the winner’s bracket champion, LC would have to be beaten twice by the eventual loser’s bracket champion.

When LC returned to action on Sunday, they would once again face Southeast Lexington, who had won the loser’s bracket championship on Saturday night. In this game, it started out as all Southeast. Thanks to four walks, two errors, and five hits, three of which were home runs, Southeast scored 10 runs in the top of the first before LC even stepped to the plate.

From there, LC held Southeast scoreless for the rest of the game, as Lucas Turpin, Jacob Burchett and Cody Carrender held Southeast two just two hits in the final five innings. However, LC could not manage enough offense to overcome the horrible first inning, as they dropped this game by a score of 10 – 3. LC managed only five hits for the entire game. Jacob Burchett and Clayton Phelps each had a single and an RBI, and Ross Perry, Trevor Howard, and Cody Carrender each added a single. John Wilson took the loss for LC.

As a result of this being LC’s first loss, this set up a final championship game immediately after the first game to decide the state championship. This game turned out to be all a baseball fan could hope for.

Southeast struck first by scoring one run in the first inning on two hits. Then, in the bottom of the first, Jacob Burchett led off with a double and then Jacob Pelston doubled down the right field line to drive in Burchett and tie the game. The game was tied until the third when Southeast managed one run on one hit and a wild pitch. LC came right back scoring a run of their own in the bottom of the third as Jacob Pelston doubled again to drive in Riley Hall. In the fourth, Southeast put up three more runs on two hits and some top notch base running. Once again, LC put up three runs of their own as Cody Carrender drove in Ross Perry and then Jacob Burchett hit a two run homer to tie the game at 5 – 5. In the fifth, Southeast put up three more runs on four hits and an error. Now, down three runs in the bottom of the fifth, things looked dark for LC, but there was still fight left. LC managed to put up four runs on three hits, the biggest was a two run homer by Trevor Howard to tie the game at 8 – 8. Then, after reaching on a single, John Wilson was able to score on a wild pitch and give LC the lead going into the last inning. Everything looked good for LC as they were facing the bottom of the Southeast batting order and needed only three outs to win the game. However, on this day, it was not meant to be. The first Southeast batter singled, and then after a walk, Conner Milslagle hit a three run homer over the right center field fence. That was the only score but that was enough as Southeast now held the lead 11 – 9. LC had one more chance in the bottom of the sixth, but failed to score after three straight ground outs. In the end, Southeast won the state title and LC finished as the runner up.

LC was led by Jacob Burchett who went 4-for-4 with a home run, double and two RBI’s, Trevor Howard had a home run, a single and two RBI’s, Jacob Pelston had two doubles and two RBI’s, and Ross Perry and John Wilson added a single each. Cody Carrender took the loss on the mound for LC.

LC will now represent Kentucky in the Ohio Valley Regional Tournament to be played at Veteran’s Park in Lexington starting on Friday, July 25. LC will take on the Western Kentucky champion at 4 p.m. on Friday.

        

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