WILLIAMSBURG — Two of the top teams in the 13th Region met on the diamond Monday during the 50th District semifinals in an elimination game.
Both Corbin and South Laurel has been ranked in the top three for most of the season, and when it came down to it, Cody Philpot’s Redhounds managed to pull off a 10-2 win while putting an end to the Cardinals’ season.
“We get to play for a championship, that’s what it’s all about,” Philpot said. “Jeremiah set the tone for us on the mound. Noah did a great job being on base for us at the top and Clay had a few big hits but that was a team win, we had a lot of guys execute and do what we needed at the time.”
South Laurel took a short-lived 1-0 lead in the top of the third before Corbin answered with eight runs in the bottom of the third to take an 8-1 edge.
The Cardinals added another run in the top of the fifth but the Redhounds put the game away with two runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Noah Cima led the way going 3-for-4 in the lead off spot while driving in two runs and scoring twice. Clay Botner did damage at the bottom of the order, collecting two hits, and three RBI while scoring once. Cam Estep and Jeremiah Gilbert added run scoring hits while Mikey Neal finished with a hit and two RBI. Kade Elam finished with two hits and scored twice while Bradric Helton had a hit, and scored once.
Gilbert notched the win, tossing a complete game while allowing eight hits and two earned runs. He finished with six strikeouts.
Hunter Bundy led the Cardinals with two hits, an RBI, and a run scored while Vince Sizemore added a run scoring hit. Waylon Hensley, Austin Byrd, Will Alsip, Jason Vaughn and Keaton Creech each had a hit apiece in the loss.
Alsip took the loss, allowing eight hits and seven earned runs in 2 1/3 innings of work. He struck out two batters. Keaton Smith pitched the final 3 2/3 of an inning, allowing three hits and three earned runs while striking out seven batters.
