BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

PRESTONSBURG — The Martin County 12U All-Stars battled through the District 3 Cal Ripken Tournament and came away with a runner-up finish June 23 at Stonecrest.

The tournament ran June 18-23 and featured teams from across the district. Martin County opened with a win, dropped into the lower bracket after falling to Pikeville, then fought its way back with three straight victories to earn a spot in the championship game.

Martin County fell to Pikeville 8-4 in the finals but gave the eventual champions a fight into the late innings.

Martin County trailed 3-2 before coming up with two runs in the top of the fifth. Parker Stafford delivered a clutch hit to center field to score a runner and tie the game. Lyric Howell then stole home on a wild pitch to give Martin County a 4-3 lead.

Pikeville loaded the bases in the bottom half, and Howell came in to pitch in relief. With the bases full, a ball was hit back to Howell on the mound. He fired home for the second out as catcher Kaiden McCoy applied the tag to keep Martin County in front.

Pikeville drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 4-4 before a hit sneaked past Brantley Marcum at third to bring in the go-ahead run. Pikeville added another run on a wild pitch and two more on a bouncer through the infield to take an 8-4 lead.

Kash Howell came on in relief and struck out the next batter swinging on a 2-2 count to end the inning.

Martin County tried to rally in the sixth. Kace Fitch led off with a single that carried to the fence and nearly left the park. Hank Reed reached on a grounder after Fitch was forced out at second, but Pikeville held on for the championship win.

Martin County finished with four runs on six hits in the title game. Lyric Howell, Stafford, Kaiden Bertling, Kayden McCoy, Fitch and Reed each had one hit.

K. McCoy doubled, scored once and drove in one run. Stafford added one hit and one RBI. Rocco Maynard scored once and walked twice. Howell had one hit, scored once and stole two bases. Bertling had one hit, scored once and walked twice. Fitch and Reed each added one hit. Marcum walked once.

Jayce McCoy started on the mound and went 3.2 innings, giving up five hits and three earned runs while striking out three. Stafford worked 0.2 innings and struck out one. Lyric Howell and Kash Howell also pitched, with Kash Howell recording the final out of the fifth on a strikeout.

Martin County opened the tournament June 19 with a 15-4 win over Johnson County.

The All-Stars scored two runs in the first, one in the third, four in the fourth and eight in the fifth to end the game. Martin County finished with 15 runs on 10 hits.

Maynard went 2-for-2 with four runs, one RBI and two walks. J. McCoy went 2-for-4 with one run and five RBIs. Ka. McCoy finished with two hits, including a double, one run and two RBIs.

Lyric Howell doubled, scored twice and walked once. Bertling doubled, scored twice and walked once. Kace Fitch had one hit, one run and one RBI. Brantley Marcum had one hit and scored twice. Axel Jude scored once and walked once. Hank Reed scored once. Stafford walked once, and Trey Schmidt added a walk.

Stafford, L. Howell and Maynard combined on the mound to hold Johnson County to four hits and one earned run. Stafford went two innings, giving up one hit and no earned runs while striking out three. Howell went two innings, giving up one hit and one earned run while striking out two. Maynard pitched one inning and struck out two.

Martin County then fell to Pikeville 9-4 on June 20 despite collecting nine hits.

The All-Stars scored two runs in the first, one in the second and one in the fifth. Stafford doubled, scored once and had one hit. J. McCoy doubled, scored once and had one hit. Bertling went 2-for-3 with one RBI. K. McCoy finished with two hits. Marcum had two hits and walked once. L. Howell had one hit and scored once. Reed scored once and walked once. Maynard drove in one run.

Maynard, Stafford and J.McCoy shared time on the mound. Maynard struck out one in two innings. Stafford struck out four in two innings. J. McCoy pitched one scoreless inning.

Martin County bounced back later that day with a 12-1 win over Letcher County in four innings.

The All-Stars scored one run in the first, three in the second and eight in the third. Martin County finished with 12 runs on six hits.

Howell went 2-for-3 with a double, one run and two RBIs. Maynard doubled, scored twice, drove in one run and walked once. J. McCoy had one hit and one RBI. K.McCoy finished with two hits and scored twice. Fitch scored twice, drove in one run, walked once and was hit by a pitch.

Stafford scored once and was hit by a pitch. Bertling scored once and walked once. Reed scored once and walked once. Jude scored once and walked once. Marcum scored once, drove in one run and walked once.

Howell and Bertling handled the pitching duties and held Letcher County to three hits and one run. Howell struck out three in 1.2 innings. Bertling struck out two in 2.1 innings.

Martin County kept its run alive June 21 with a 6-5 win over Knott County in seven innings.

The All-Stars scored one run in the second, three in the fourth, one in the sixth and the winning run in the seventh. Martin County finished with six runs on nine hits.

Bertling went 2-for-3 with a triple and scored two runs. Stafford doubled, scored once and drove in one run. Fitch doubled and finished with two hits and one RBI. Marcum added two hits and one RBI. J. McCoy had one hit and scored once. Maynard added one hit. K. McCoy scored once, drove in two runs and walked once. Reed scored once.

Martin County’s pitchers held Knott County to three hits and struck out 10 batters. J. McCoy struck out three in 3.2 innings. Bertling struck out one. Howell fanned five in 2.1 innings, and Stafford recorded a strikeout in relief.

Martin County advanced to the finals with a 9-6 win over Belfry later June 21.

Belfry led 4-2 after the top of the third before Martin County tied the game in the bottom half. The All-Stars broke through with five runs in the fourth to take control. Martin County finished with nine runs on nine hits.

Maynard, Stafford and K.McCoy combined for seven strikeouts on the mound. Maynard struck out three in two innings. Stafford struck out three in 1.2 innings and did not allow an earned run. McCoy struck out one in 1.1 innings.

Maynard went 2-for-3 and scored once. Howell had one hit, two walks and two runs. J.McCoy finished with two hits, one run and two RBIs. Stafford added one hit and scored once. Bertling doubled, scored three times, drove in two runs and walked twice. K. McCoy had two hits, one run and one RBI. Reed walked once.