BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — Kooper Sturgill turned in a big night at the plate and on the mound as Martin County Middle School defeated Morgan County 6-4 on May 8 in Inez.

Sturgill went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate and scored two runs while also closing out the game with three key outs in the fifth inning.

Martin County built a 5-2 advantage before Morgan County threatened late. In the top of the fourth inning, the Cardinals came up with several defensive plays to keep momentum on their side.

Blaine Williams threw down to Jonah Mills at third base, where Mills applied the tag to catch a Morgan County runner stealing for the first out.

Sturgill followed by fielding a hard-hit ball back to the mound and tossing to first for the second out before striking out the next Cougar batter swinging on a fastball to strand a runner.

The Cardinals answered in the bottom of the inning. Kaiden McCoy stole second before Sturgill singled to move him to third. Williams drew a walk to load the bases, and Ryder Little beat out a ground ball to shortstop for an RBI as McCoy scored to push the lead to 6-2. Morgan County turned a double play to end the inning.

Morgan County cut the deficit to 6-4 in the fifth with a two-run homer over the left-field fence, but Sturgill shut the door from there. He struck out the first batter swinging, then got a groundout to Brock Fields at shortstop for the second out before ending the game with a strikeout looking.

Little finished 2-for-3 with an RBI for Martin County. Rylee Damron added a single. Williams, Mayson Phillips, Beckam Spaulding and McCoy each scored for the Cardinals.