A walk, a hit and an error, all with two outs, gave visiting Hazard the winning run in the ninth inning of a 3-2 victory Friday at Harlan County.
Max Johnson walked with two outs, then took second on Andrew Ford’s hit and then scored when Jarrett Napier was safe on an error by shortstop Tristan Cooper.
Johnson had three of the Bulldogs’ eight hits in the game. Sawyer Patrick had a double. Samuel Shoptaw, Ford, Hank Pelfrey and Garrett Miller added one single each.
Zac Collett had two singles to lead HCHS on offense. Isaac Kelly added a double. Nate Shepherd, Brayden Blakley and Will Cassim each contributed singles.
Tristan Cooper pitched eight innings for the Bears, giving up two runs on seven hits, with seven strikeouts and four walks. Blakley suffered the loss as he allowed one unearned run on one hit with two strikeouts and a walk.
It was the second one-run loss in two nights for the Bears, who fell 6-5 on Thursday at Perry Central in a game shortened to six innings due to rain.
Collett and Cassim led the Bears with two singles each. Jonah Swanner had a double. Cooper added one single.
Shepherd pitched a complete game for the Bears, giving up four runs on six hits in five innings. Shepherd struck out five and walked seven.
———
Hazard 010 001 001 — 3. 8. 1
Harlan County 100 001 000 — 2. 6. 2
Miller, Mullins (3), Napier (6) and Davis; Cooper, Blakley (9) and Kelly. WP — Napier. LP — Blakley (3-2).
———
Harlan County 002 030 — 5. 6. 1
Perry Central 110 22x — 6. 6. 2
Shepherd and Kelly; Amburgey, Wooton (5), Combs (6) and Perkins. WP — Wooton. L — Shepherd (1-2). Sv — Combs.