It took one trip through the Knox Central order for Harlan County junior right-hander Alex Creech to find his rhythm on a bitterly cold night at the HCHS field. Once he got there, Creech took over and retired 14 straight batters at one point in leading the Bears to a 7-4 victory.
Creech gave up three runs on three hits over 6 1/3 innings, striking out 10 and walking three. Zayden Casolari recorded the final two outs and allowed two hits and one run.
“Alex was in his zone tonight, on the mound and at the plate,” Harlan County coach Scotty Bailey said. “Once he got settled in, he was locked. When he’s like that we can win a lot of games behind him. I kept asking if he was good and he said he was, I trust him. He’s worked really hard on everything and he deserved a win like this.”
The Bears had only one error behind Creech and that was in the last inning.
“I thought we made some plays behind him and had some young guys step up. We had three freshmen start tonight. That’s huge for us having young guys get in and get reps and produce, I’m very proud of our young guys,” Bailey said. “Braxton Bowen came up with a big hit and has played real well.”
Creech and Samuel Henson each had two hits as the Bears evened their record at 3-3. Isaac Kelly, Tristan Cooper, Gunner Burkhart, Braxton Bowen and Aiden Craig added one hit each.
“We had some older guys step up and produce at the plate as well, Sammy stepped up with a huge RBI late and it got us going,” Bailey said. “I thought it was a good night for us especially without two starters (Will Cassim and Jonah Swanner), not including guys from basketball. We got a lot of things to still work on, but it’s always good to get a win at home against a good team. I’m proud of the boys.”
Jacob Osborne paced the 2-1 Panthers with an RBI double. Brady Engle, Austin Bargo, Casey Bright and John Davis each had one hit.
Grant Miler started on the mound for the Panthers and gave up one run on four hits in three innings, with six strikeouts and one walk. Osborne allowed two runs on three hits with one strikeout and no walks in two innings. Zach Carroll allowed four runs on two hits with one strikeout and no walks in one inning.
Osborne’s two-out double gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead after Bargo had singled with one out.
Kelly, Creech and Cooper had consecutive hits in the third inning as the Bears pulled even.
Burkhart singled with one out in the fourth and scored when Bowen slapped a single into right field.
Cooper was safe on an error in the fifth inning, moved to second on Jesse Gilbert’s bunt and scored on Henson’s clutch two-out hit.
The Bears took control with a four-run sixth with the help of two errors, a hit batsman and singles by Craig and Creech. The final run scored on a double steal as Kelly went home as Cooper was caught in a rundown.
Creech’s night on the mound ended with one out in the seventh when a strikeout bounced away from Kelly. Engle and Bright followed with hits before Osborne grounded to Burkhart at third for a force out to end the game.
Harlan County travels to Hazard on Friday.
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Knox Central 100 000 3 — 4 5. 3
Harlan County 001 114 x — 7. 9. 1
Miller, Osborne (4), Carroll (6) and Collins; Creech, Casolari (7) and Kelly. WP — Creech (1-0). LP — Osborne.