After going through a brutal stretch when they lost nine of 11 games and fell to 12-12 on the season, the Harlan County Lady Bears appear to have turned around their season in the nick of time.
Harlan County won its third straight and clinched the second seed in next week’s 52nd District Tournament with a 10-5 win Tuesday over visiting Bell County. HCHS will play Harlan and Bell County will take on top-seeded Middlesboro on Monday in first-round games at Middlesboro.
The Lady Bears pounded out 12 hits in the win to support junior Alexis Adams, who gave up six hits and three walks while striking out 10.
“This is where we want to be. We started the game a little rocky, but we kept our composure,” Harlan County coach Shelby Burton said. “Coming off a big win last night over Whitley County (8-7), this is all I could ask for going into the tournament. We’ve made some adjustments at the plate, pitch after pitch. I’m proud of them tonight.”
Adams also led the HCHS offense with a double and single. Reagan Landa, Jaylin Robinson and Kendall Brock had two singles each. Aly Sherman, Jordyn Smith, Bella Miniard and Aniston Burton added one single each.
Adyson Scott and Jayda Boateng led the 13-8 Lady Cats with two singles each. Amilya Smith had a double, and Tristan Saylor added a single.
Scott pitched a complete game, giving up 10 runs on 12 hits with five strikeouts and one walk.
Three straight Bell County errors in the first inning, two on routine popups, led to four HC runs. Brock’s two-run single was the only hit of the inning for the Lady Bears.
Harlan County returned the favor in the second with two unearned runs scoring on Smith’s three-run double to left as the throw back to the infield went into the dugout.
The Lady Bears answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning as Landa and Robinson recorded RBI hits after Sherman and Alred opened with singles.
Smith singled and scored on Adams’ double in the fourth inning. Courtesy runner Julionna Johnson pushed the lead to 8-3 when she scored on a wild pitch.
Bell scored two in the fifth inning on hits by Scott and Saylor and an RBI ground out by Boateng.
Landa and Robinson had two-out singles in the sixth inning before Miniard added two insurance runs with a hit.
The Lady Bears travel to Corbin on Thursday and close the regular season at home Friday against Pineville. Bell County will play host to Lynn Camp on Thursday.
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Bell County 030 020 0 — 5. 6. 3
Harlan County 420 202 x — 10. 12. 2
Scott and Perdue; Adams and Robinson. WP — Adams (11-9). LP — Scott (13-9).
Bell County 16, McCreary Central 5
The Lady Cats opened the week by pounding out 19 hits in a lopsided 16-5 victory Monday on the road at McCreary Central.
Raeghan Moyers led the Bell County offensive attack with four hits, including a double and a triple. She scored three times and recorded a pair of RBI. Jayda Boateng (home run, double, four RBI, two runs), Amillya Smith (two doubles, two RBI, three runs) and Brylee Redmond (four RBI) each collected three hits for the winners.
Kenley Foster (two RBI) and Kyleigh Allen (two runs, RBI) each recorded a pair of hits for Bell County, while teammates Tristan Saylor and Adyson Scott each recorded a hit.
Scott went the distance in the circle en route to her 13th win of the season. Scott yielded 10 hits, four earned runs, walked no batters and struck out seven.
“I was proud of the way we came out and handled business (against McCreary),” Bell County coach Kristan Saylor said. “Good teams take care of the games they’re supposed to win, and that’s exactly what we did.
What I loved most was our energy, focus, and how we played together from start to finish. We didn’t play down, we stayed aggressive, and we kept pushing. That’s the standard.
“Every win matters and we want to keep building toward what we know this team is capable of.”
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Monday
Bell County 501415 – 16.19.0
McCreary Central 010112 – 5.10.1
Scott and Perdue; Garland, Mann (6) and Musgrove. WP – Scott (13-8). LP – Garland. HR — Boateng (4).
