The Clay County Bulldogs baseball team was in town Friday night to take on the Tigers in a non-district match-up. The Tigers came away victorious easily defeating the Bulldogs 11-2.
In the top of the first, it was Seth Sanley at the mound to showcase his skills in pitching. The first batter found the seam in the defense, good for a single. The next batter would fly out to left field. Stanley would walk his next two batters before forcing the fifth batter into a double play.
In the bottom of the first, Steven Howell lead the Tigers off with a double. Dustin Cook would reach first on an error. Hunter Graham was up next and brought Howell in for an RBI double. Cody Puckett was up to bat and hit a deep ball to centerfield that bounced off the fence and was good for a triple that brought in two runs. Steven Page was the next batter and was walked. Daniel Stanley was up to bat and dropped in an RBI single down the third baseline. Seth Stanley was the last batter of the inning, grounding out into a fielders choice for an out at third. Devin Summers was next up and was walked, loading the bases. Alex Hall was next up to bat and drove in another run for DeKalb with a single. Howell would make it back around to the plate again to bat, but would fly out to left field.
In the top of the second, the first batter was struck out. The next batter hit a high hopper to third base and was thrown out. The third and final batter posed no problem for the pitcher as he was also struck out.
In the bottom of the second, Cook led things off for the Tigers with a single to left field. On Graham’s at bat he would ground out to third, but advanced Cook to second. Puckett was up to bat and repeated his previous feat with another triple, also adding another RBI to his total. Page would bring Puckett home with an RBI single of his own to centerfield. Daniel Stanley would be up and hit a line drive that landed directly into the glove of the third baseman. Seth Stanley followed his brother by flying out to centerfield.
In the top of the third, a new pitcher came in as DeKalb was in possession of a commanding lead. Chase Hoke was the new pitcher. In his first inning he proved to be an up and comer as he sat down three straight batters, striking them all out.
In the bottom of the third, Summers led off and was walked, then awarded second base on a balk call during Hall’s at bat. Hall would fly out to left field. Howell was the next batter and looking to bring in Summers to score, instead he flew out to centerfield. Cook would follow the same result as he also flew out to centerfield.
In the top of the fourth, Hoke seemed to slow down a little as he walked his first batter. The next batter would hit a line drive into right field good for an RBI but was then caught stealing. Hoke’s next two batters each found their way to first base courtesy of DeKalb errors in fielding. The next batter would knock in an RBI on a fielder’s choice at second. The final batter was struck out.
In the bottom of the fourth, Graham led off with a double that landed in deep centerfield. After Puckett had already jacked out two triples he was walked. Cook was up next and blasted a triple of his own and drove in an RBI. Lance Ball came into the game and had a sac fly RBI. Summers also drove in a run with a single. Aron Patterson was up and flew out to the short stop. Cook would hit a line drive that would be caught for the third out.
In the top of the fifth, Hoke made quick of the inning by striking out three of thefour batters he faced, hitting one of them.
In the bottom of the fifth, Nick Parsley made his way to the plate and was struck out. Braxton Howell was up and dropped in a double to left field. Luke Boss flew out to right field and advanced the runner to third. Lane Ball was the last out of the inning as he flew out to center field.
In the top of the sixth, John Roller was brought in to pitch and struck out his first three batters.
In the bottom of the sixth, Roller led off and was struck out. Summers followed that up with a single. Hall was next up and hit a line drive back to the pitcher for the double play as he caught Summers with a lead.
In the top of the seventh, the first batter was walked. The second batter was forced into a full count, then grounded out to second base. Roller struck his next two batters out to end the game in dominating fashion.