LONDON — South Laurel Junior Keaton Smith turned in his best pitching effort of his career by shutting down Harlan County’s bats during the Cardinals’ 10-0 win on Tuesday.
Smith was almost unhittable on the mound, allowing only two hits while striking out six batters.
“Keaton Smith pitched an outstanding game for us,” South Laurel coach Trey Smith said. “It was an eye-opening experience for him, and he really pitched well.”
Smith also received help from his teammates at the plate.
Led by Waylon Hensley’s 5-for-5, two RBI, and two runs scored effort, South Laurel pounded out 14 hits while taking advantage of three errors.
Will Alsip collected two hits while driving in three runs and scoring once. Jack Vaughn had two hits, one RBI and one run scored while Hunter Bundy delivered a hit, a stolen base and three runs scored. Cole Harville finished with a hit and an RBI while Vincent Sizemore had two hits. Bryson Turner also scored once.
South Laurel scored three runs in each of the first two innings while added another run in the third inning to push its lead to 7-0. The Cardinals added three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to secure the win,
“I thought it was a good win for us,” Smith said. “They have a good pitcher and to come out and take control of the game early was big for us.
“Anytime you can start the season 2-0 it’s a good thing,” he added. “We know we still have things to work on. We competed well tonight and had the right mind set.”
