With seven wins in their first eight games, the Harlan Green Dragons are off to one of the best starts in school history. They took another big step in making the 2024 season special Thursday in McKee with an 8-6 win over Jackson County to give the Dragons what is believed to be their first 13th Region All “A” Classic title.
“It feels really good to get this win. It’s great for our players, great for our program, and great for our school. I’m so happy for these seniors who have bought in. This has been a long time coming for these guys,” Harlan coach Lee Freyer said. “The scary thing is this team is still learning to win. Tonight was definitely a step in the right direction.”
The Dragons scored three runs in the first inning and four in the third to take a 7-2 lead. Jackson County cut the deficit to two with three runs in the fifth inning. The Generals loaded the bases in the sixth inning with one out before Jared Moore worked out of the jam with a strikeout and a ground out to Baylor Varner at shortstop..
Brody Owens started on the mound for Harlan and gave up six runs (one earned) on three hits with two strikeouts and four walks in 4 1/3 innings. Moore gave up two runs with three strikeouts and one walk in 2 2 /3 innings.
Brody came out and set the tone early. He kept Jackson’s bats off balance all night. He’s a competitor. Can’t say enough about how well he pitched tonight,” Freyer said. “Jared came in and did his job. He pitched with a lead and worked his way through a tough jam in the sixth. So proud of Jared and his leadership. He wanted the baseball at the end of the game. I had all the confidence he would close it out for us. We showed tonight that we have as good of a pitching staff, and as deep of a staff as anyone.”
Varner and Donovan Montanaro led the Dragons on offense with two hits and two runs scored each from the top of the order. Aiden Johnson, Owens and Luke Luttrell added one hit each.
“Offensively, we executed. Tonight we were dangerous when we got guys on base. That’s about buying in. Do your job, get on-get over-get in. We had some big hits in timely situations and manufactured some runs when we had too,” Freyer said. “Defensively we had some errors, but we made some absolute web gem plays too. Some of those errors were nerves. Those are plays we will make as the season goes along.
Harlan returns to action Saturday at Betsy Layne.
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Harlan 304 100 0 — 8. 7. 5
Jackson County 020 130 0 — 6. 5. 4
Owens, Moore (5) and Rouse; Clemmons, Thomas (4) and Elam. WP — Owens (2-0). LP — Clemmons. SV — Moore 1.