Harlan rolled to a pair of victories Saturday at home, defeating Buckhorn 11-1 and Barbourville 17-11 in the Autism Awareness Classic.
“Today was a great day for us. We did a lot of things right today. We had some big-time innings from our starters. Our offense really stepped it up today. We hit close to .500 today and stole 23 bases. It overall was a great day,” Harlan coach Cory Estep said. “From top to bottom, we really executed well today. I’m proud of our boys’ effort. I can’t give enough credit to everyone on the team. Today was overall just a great team effort.”
Jared Moore pitched a four-hitter and the Harlan offense pounded out 12 hits in the win over Buckhorn.
Moore struck out seven and walked only one as he pitched a complete game.
Shane Lindsey led the Dragons at the plate with four hits in four trips to the plate. Ethan Cornett pounded out two doubles and scored three times. Jaedyn Gist and Moore each had two singles. John Mark Bryson and Trey Barnes contributed one single each.
Harlan took a 2-0 lead in the first inning with runs scoring on an error and a.balk.
Cornett doubled in the third inning and scored on an error. Moore added a two-run single for a 5-0 lead through three innings.
Miller had an RBI single for a Buckhorn run in the fourth inning.
Another Cornett double, this one in the fourth inning, was followed bye RBI single from Lindsey. Jeremiah Mills brought in another run with a grounder to the pitcher. Bryson scored on a wild pitch for an 8-1 lead.
Lindsey had a two-run single in the fifth inning for a 10-1 lead.
Bryson walked in the sixth and scored the final run on a.hit by Moore.
Gist had a triple, two singles and walked twice to lead Harlan in the win over Barbourville as the Dragons scored seven runs in fifth inning to break an 8-8 tie. Lindsey had a double and two singles. Aiden Johnson singled three times. Evan Browning had a triple and single. Moore added a double and single. Jeremiah Mills and Andrew Roark contributed one single each.
Browning started on the mound and gave up eight runs (three earned) on seven hits with seven strikeouts and four walks in 3 2/3 innings. Bryson earned the win as he gave up one run on one hit with four strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings. Ethan Cornett closed the game by giving up two unearned runs on one hit in 1 2/3 innings.
Harlan (2-2) will play host to Leslie County on Monday.
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Buckhorn 000 100 — 1. 4. 6
Harlan 203 321 — 11. 12. 2
Southwood, Riley (5) and Miller; Moore and Gist. WP — Moore (1-0). LP — Southwood.
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Barbourville 102 503 x — 11. 9. 1
Harlan 215 072 x — 17. 15. 6
Buchanan, Chafin (4), Mills (6) and Lundy; Browning, Bryson (4), Cornett (6) and Gist. WP — Bryson (1-0). LP — Chafin.