MANCHESTER — North Laurel and Clay County hooked up in a rollercoaster of a game with the Jaguars rallying for four runs in the top of the seventh to pull off an 18-15 win.
“It wasn’t pretty but, we kept fighting and showed a lot of character with this win,” North Laurel coach Darrin McWhorter said.
The Jaguars (8-10) took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the second before Clay County scored nine runs to claim an 11-4 advantage.
North Laurel could have folded, but slowly chipped away at its deficit.
The Jaguars added three runs in the third inning and another in the top of the fourth to make the score, 11-8, but the Tigers (9-8) answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to push their lead to, 14-8.
North Laurel added two more runs in the top of the fifth, making the score, 14-10, while Clay County answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning.
And that’s when the Jaguars took over.
North Laurel cut its deficit to 15-14 with four runs in the top of the sixth inning before putting the game away with four more runs in the top of the seventh inning.
Blaize Jones hit a home run in the win for the Jaguars while finishing with two hits, three RBI, and four runs scored. Andrew Cupp had two hits, four RBI, and two runs scored while Cameron Smith finished with two hits, and three RBI. J. Douglas Gilliam collected two hits, drove in a run, and scored once. Walt Hellard finished with a hit, and scored once. EJ Allen delivered two hits, and two RBI while Kyler Elza finished with a hit, and an RBI. Corey Broughton, and Chase Keen each had a hit, and two runs scored apiece.
Zachary Saylor led Clay County with three hits, five RBI, and three runs scored while Brandin Crawford finished three hits, three RBI, and two runs scored. Tate Rice had two hits, and scored twice while Ethan Jackson finished with a hit, an RBI, and a run scored. Lucas Allen, and Tyson Wagers also drove in a pair of runs.
