Down to their last out and trailing 3-2, the Bell County had the bases loaded on Monday against visiting Harlan. Eighth-grader Brayden Carroll hit a ground ball to second that Aiden Johnson mishandled for the tying and winning runs in a 4-3 victory.
Jared Moore came on in relief of Baylor Varner to start the seventh inning. Daniel Thomas opened the inning with a single, then Blake Burnett followed with a one-out walk. Moore struck out Holden Clark for the second out, but loaded the bases when he hit Jackson Walters with a pitch. Carroll then came through with the game-winning ground ball as the Bobcats improved to 2-0 in district action and 5-4 overall.
Burnett pitched a complete game with five strikeouts and five walks while giving up three runs on four hits.
Varner allowed two runs on six hits with 10 strikeouts and two walks over six innings. Moore gave up two unearned runs and one hit over two-thirds of an inning.
Moore led the 9-4 Dragons on offense with an RBI double. Eli Freyer had an RBI single. Luke Luttrell tripled and scored a run. Varner also had a single.
Hunter Fuson paced the Bell offense with two singles. Thomas, Burnett, Clark, Walters and Carroll added one single each.
“It was a pretty well-played game by both teams for the most part. Pitching and defense dominated the day, and Blake was able to work out of some jams with some well executed pitches and help from his defense,” Bell County coach Jeff Sziksaid. “Varner also threw well, and we had a hard time offensively. We’re back at it again Tuesday.”
The two teams complete their two-game series on Tuesday at Harlan.
———

Harlan 010 020 0 — 3. 4. 2
Bell County 020 000 2` — 4. 7. 2
Varner, Moore (7) and Owens; Burnett and Brigmon. WP — Burnett. LP — Moore (1-1).