Much like a week ago, Brayden Blakley followed a strong pitching performance by Tristan Cooper with one of his own Wednesday and the Harlan County Black Bears are suddenly riding a four-game winning streak and have moved into a tie for the 52nd District’s top seed with a 10-0 win in six innings over visiting Bell County.
Cooper struck out 16 on Tuesday as the Bears won 7-4 in eight innings at Bell County. Blakley pitched a three-hitter in the rematch with four strikeouts and one walk. The HCHS defense was also solid in an error-free game.
“They have been throwing strikes, and that’s the key. Brayden is getting ahead in the count and he threw really well tonight,” Harlan County coach Scotty Bailey said. “I was proud of him. We’re also making some plays behind him. We’ve really cut our errors down. I told them we can win some games if we make some plays and make contact.”
Jonah Swanner led the Harlan County offense with a triple, two singles and four runs scored. Nathan Shepherd and Braydon Burton added two singles each. Shawn Carroll, Isaac Kelly, Will Cassim and Cooper had one single each.
“Jonah has struggled a little bit lately, but I told him how important it was for him to get on base,” Bailey said. “He can make things happen for us.”
Daniel Thomas, Cole Hoskins and Peyton Mason had one single each for the 7-7 Bobcats, who fell to 0-4 in district action.
Blake Burnett gave up seven runs on 10 hits in four innings, with four strikeout and no walks, to suffer the loss. Dalton Steps pitched the final 1 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on one hit,
Swanner scored Harlan County’s first run in the opening inning as he singled, stole second and came home on Cassim’s sacrifice fly.
Carroll and Swanner ignited the HCHS offense in the third inning with singles. Isaac Kelly was safe on an error to load the bases before Cassim brought in two more runs with a hit to left. Burton and Shepherd added two-out RBI singles for a 5-0 lead.
The Bears added two more runs in the fourth inning. Cooper singled and scored on Swanner’s triple. Kelly followed with an RBI single.
Harlan County ended the game with three runs in the sixth on three hit batsmen followed by two wild pitches and an error.
“They are finishing games now and tonight they produced with runners on. We had the right mindset and hit some hard balls,” Bailey said. “It’s nice to see them enjoy the game.”
Harlan County (5-14) returns to action Friday at Leslie County. Bell County will play Lawrence County on Saturday in the 2A Classic state tournament.
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Bell County 000 000 — 0. 3. 3
Harlan County 104 203 — 10. 11. 0
Burnett, Stepp (5) and Walters; Blakley and Kelly. WP — Blakley (3-1). LP — Burnett.