CITIZEN STAFF REPORT
Martin County baseball defeated Tug Valley and lost to Pike Central, West Carter and Morgan County in week 2 of the 2023 season.
Below is a recap of the action.
Cards 13, TV 7
INEZ — Martin County baseball picked up its first win of the season March 20, scoring eight runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to propel the Cardinals to a 13-7 victory over Tug Valley in action from Cardinal Field.
Dawson Mills had three hits, knocked in two and scored twice. Damian Cheek singled in two and scored twice. Dennison Davis had two singles, scored twice and added an RBI. Garrett Alley doubled and singled, added two RBIs and scored twice. Greyden Proctor had two hits, including a double, scored twice and drove in a run. Evan Crum had two hits and scored two runs. Chase Stacy added one hit. Evan Mills and Ryan Stephens each scored.
Dennison Davis got the call to start. He gave up four runs on two hits with five strikeouts and four walks in 4 1/3 innings.
Chase Stacy pitched in relief and was tagged with the win. He gave up three runs on three hits, fanning seven and walking three in 2 2/3 innings.
The Cardinals had five stolen bases and committed four errors.
Tug Valley scored twice in the fourth, four in the fifth and once in the seventh.
Cards fall to PC
PIKEVILLE — Martin County lost a heartbreaker to Pike Central 8-7 on the road March 21.
The Cardinals had a 7-2 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning and Pike Central loaded the bases. Pike Central’s Cameron Shearer stepped to the plate and went yard for a grand-slam home run cutting the Cardinals’ lead to 7-6.
The Cardinals gave up four walks in the seventh. With the bases again loaded Pike Central scored the tying run on a ground out for the second out of the inning. With the bases still loaded the Hawks scored on a pitched passed ball to walk off with the win.
The Hawks struck first in the bottom of the first inning to go up 2-0 on a lead-off walk, a triple and a sacrifice fly ball.
The Cardinals came storming back in the top of the second pushing across four runs on a walk by Dennison Davis, a single by Damian Cheek and an error on a ball put in play by Chase Stacy.
Martin County got on the scoreboard again in the top of the fourth with three more runs to go up 7-2.
Greyden Proctor got the start for the Cardinals and pitched 5-1/3 innings. He gave up six runs on five hits, fanned six batters and walked one.
Dawson Mills relieved Proctor and was tagged with the loss. The righthander allowed zero hits and two runs 1-1/3 innings, striking out one.
Evan Crum relieved Mills in the seventh giving up no hits and one passed ball that allowed the Hawks to go up 8-7.
The Cardinals had seven runs on six hits and recorded six stolen bases.
Cheek went 2-4 with two singles, added two RBIs and scored a run. Davis singled and scored. Garrett Alley doubled. Proctor singled and scored a run. Mills added a single. Ryan Stephens scored twice and Crum and Chase Stacy scored one each.
Cards lose to WC
INEZ — Martin County Cardinals played their third game in four days and lost 5-0 to West Carter at home Thursday.
West Carter got on the scoreboard on a fielder’s choice in the first inning.
The Cardinals couldn’t get their bats going. Dawson Mills and Aiden Horn provided the only offense with a single apiece.
The Comets scored again in the fourth to take a 2-0 lead.
The Comets bats heated up in the top of the seventh scoring three more runs for the shutout.
Chase Stacy took the loss for the Cardinals. He allowed seven hits and five runs over 6-2/3 innings, striking out two and walking three.
The Cardinals committed three errors.
Xavier Rose went the distance for the Comets pitching seven innings, allowing zero runs on two hits, striking out 11 and walking zero.
Cards edged by MC
WEST LIBERTY — Martin County baseball was edged by Morgan County 11-9 in a slugfest Saturday in West Liberty.
This was the Cardinals’ fourth game in six days.
Both teams started with hot bats. Martin County struck first and had a 2-0 lead after their first at-bat. Morgan pushed three runs across the plate in the bottom of the first to go in front 3-2.
The Cardinals scored three more runs in the top of the second to take a 5-3 lead.
Morgan County leveled the score at 5-5 in the bottom of the third, then added another run in the fourth to make it 6-5.
Things went downhill for the Cardinals when Morgan County plated five runs in the fifth inning to stretch their lead to 11-5.
The Cardinals started their comeback in the sixth scoring three runs on a sacrifice fly by Dawson Mills, a groundout by Greyden Proctor and a single by Garrett Alley to cut the lead 11-8. They added another run in the seventh on a double by Damian Cheek, but it wasn’t enough.
Martin County outhit the Cougars 14-10 and committed five errors.
The Cardinals threw four pitchers.
Proctor took the loss, allowing six hits and six runs while striking out seven over 3-2/3 innings.
Dennison Davis got the start allowing three runs on two hits over 2/3 innings.
Dawson Mills relieved Proctor and gave up two runs on two hits, while Cheek relieved Mills and gave up no hits and no runs in one inning.
Providing the offense for the Cardinals was
Evan Crum and Chase Stacy had three hits and three runs each to lead the Cardinals. Cheek doubled, singled, scored one and knocked one in. Proctor doubled and drove in three runs. Davis went 2-4 with one RBI. Mills recorded one hit and three RBIs. Garrett Alley had one hit and one RBI and Aiden Horn singled.
Trusty Parker was the winning pitcher for Morgan County
