One night after winning on the last play of the game on Monday at home against Harlan, the visiting Bell County Bobcats coasted to a 10-4 win Tuesday in the rematch.
Bell County raced to a 9-0 lead through four innings as sophomore Cooper Brock pitched a no-hitter through five innings before Baylor Varner led off the sixth with a single. The Dragons scored four runs in the final two innings but couldn’t overcome the Bobcats’ fast start.
Brock struck out eight, walked four and gave up one hit and one run over five-plus innings. Brayden Carroll allowed two unearned runs on three walks and one strikeout in one inning. Derrick Goodin gave up one run on one hit in one inning to close the game.
Carroll led the Bobcats on offense with a double and two singles for four RBI. Brigmon doubled twice with two RBI. Jackson Walters, Blake Burnett and Daniel Thomas each added a double and single. Brock, Hunter Fuson and Brody Hensley added one single each.
Varner and Eli Freyer had the only hits for Harlan.
Owens gave up five runs on eight hits with one walk and no strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings. Freyer allowed four runs on four walks and a hit in one inning. Jake Brewer gave up three hits with four strikeouts and one walk in two shutout innings. Jared Moore allowed one run on two hits in 1 2/3 innings, with one walk and no strikeouts.
“Cooper Brock was lights out on the mound and really set the tone for us tonight,” Bell County coach Jeff Sziksaid said. “We strung together a lot of quality at-bats early on and were able to put up some crooked numbers. We played pretty well for five innings tonight, but lost our focus a bit down the stretch. Overall, it was a good night for us.”
“It was a tough series for us against a much improved Bell County team. They really knocked the cover off the ball tonight. Their pitcher threw a great game. Hats off to him. He really had his stuff working until he got a little fatigued there in the sixth,” Harlan coach Lee Freyer said. “Sometimes when you are changing a culture you have a few bumps in the road. It’s not always smooth, but I really feel we have a resilient team. We have a team of guys that won’t give up, they will continue to answer the bell and play as hard as they can. We will make some mistakes along the way, and that’s OK. We just have to use that as an opportunity to learn and take from that.”
Harlan (9-5 overall, 1-3 district) returns to action Thursday at home against Lynn Camp and will play at Wolfe County on Friday in the All “A” Classic sectional game. The 7-4 Bobcats, who are 3-0 in district action, will travel to Barbourville on Thursday.
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Bell County 032 400 1 — 10. 14. 1
Harlan 000 003 1 — 4. 2. 1
Brock, Carroll (6), Goodin (7) and Brigmon; Owens, Freyer (3), Brewer (4), Moore (6) and Rouse, Owens (3), WP — Brock. LP — Owens (2-2).