BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
PAINTSVILLE — When the final out settled into Paintsville’s glove Monday night, three Martin County seniors slowly walked off the field for the final time in Cardinal uniforms.
For Aidan Mann, Hunter Moore and Dylan Spence, the 10-1 loss in the opening round of the 57th District tournament at Johnson Central marked the end of their high school baseball careers and, for Mann, the beginning of another chapter still connected to the game he loves.
Mann recently signed with his dream school, the University of Pikeville, to continue his baseball career. He collected one of Martin County’s four hits in the district matchup.
The Cardinals battled early and kept the Tigers within reach through the first three innings before Paintsville used a huge fourth inning to pull away.
The atmosphere carried postseason intensity from the opening pitch as Martin County tried to extend its season and keep its senior class together a little longer.
Paintsville struck first in the bottom of the opening inning when Anderson Lauffer lined a triple that brought home the game’s first run for a 1-0 lead.
Martin County continued fighting behind solid defensive play and steady pitching from Tyler Stacy, who worked through traffic on the bases to keep the Cardinals close.
The Tigers added another run in the third inning after Lauffer came through again with an RBI single to make it 2-0.
Despite the deficit, Martin County remained within striking distance entering the fourth inning.
Brayden Hammond entered the game for Noah Bowens as a courtesy runner when he singled on a line drive.
Hammond rounded the horn and scored the lone run for the Cards.
Paintsville’s lineup erupted in the bottom half of the inning.
The Tigers scored seven runs on five hits in a game-breaking rally that suddenly turned a close contest into a difficult uphill climb for Martin County.
Colton Short started the surge with an RBI single before Lukas Stewart delivered a two-run single. Brody Howell later added another RBI hit. Luke Stratton drew a bases-loaded walk. Kruze Howell capped the inning with a two-run single and the Cards could not recover.
Caige Presley and Noah Bowens each recorded a hit for Martin County. Moore and Mann both rang up double-baggers in their final game.
Stacy took the loss on the mound after allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits over three innings while striking out one and walking two.
Presley tossed over two innings and allowed two hits, one earned run and struck out two Tigers.
