BY BOO NEWSOME
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

PIKEVILLE — The Martin County Cardinals, under the direction of newly hired coach TC Maynard, opened baseball season with a 10-6 win over the Pike Central Hawks on the road March 13.

“It was a great start to the season against a strong team,” Coach Maynard said. “We had several big plays and hits from our experienced players as well as having our younger players step up when needed.”

Chase Stacy toed the rubber for the Cardinals for 4-1/3 innings. The junior recorded seven strikeouts, gave up two walks and allowed three runs on four hits.

Junior Damian Cheek pitched 3-2/3 innings to pick up his first win of the season. He allowed two earned runs, struck out seven and gave up five walks.

The Cardinals got their bats going with one run in the first inning. They put two runners across the home plate in the second, one in the third and one in the fourth to go up 5-0.

Pike Central scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth and two in the fifth to even the score at 5-5.

The Cardinals played an impressed sixth inning, scoring five runs to extend their lead to 10-5. The Hawks added a run in the bottom of the sixth to cut the deficit to 10-6.

Neither team scored in the seventh.

Cheek had three hits and knocked in two runs. Stacy recorded two hits and stole a base. Brock Messer recorded a hit and an RBI and stole two bases. Knox Maynard had a hit and two RBIs and stole one base. Aiden Horn and Dylan Hale each had a hit. Eli Mills stole three bases, Hunter Moore stole two, and Evan Mills stole one.

The Cardinals were set to take on Pike County Central again Tuesday, March 19, but details of that game were not available at press time. Their next game is set for Thursday at 6 p.m. when they will host Phelps.