The cold weather seems to suit Greenwood’s baseball team.
Opening the season with two frosty days of baseball, the Gators claimed their second straight win with a 4-1 victory over visiting Logan County on Tuesday.
On a sunny day with temperatures dipping into the 30s by the end, Greenwood (2-0) backed solid pitching with a seven-hit effort to pick up the win.
“Logan’s a great ballclub, we were just able to get a few across,” Greenwood coach Jason Jaggers said. “It was just one of those games – anytime you play Logan County, you’ve got to earn everything you get.”
Pitching ruled the early part of the game, with Greenwood starter Chaze Huff and Logan’s Chance Sweeney matching 0s on the line score for the first three innings. Huff had to work his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the second with a full-count strikeout for the third out, and Sweeney slipped out of a little trouble of his own in the bottom of the second by stranding a runner on third.
The Gators broke through in the bottom of the fourth when Blake Marks drove in a run with a bases-loaded infield single, but Sweeney wouldn’t allow more as he stranded three runners.
Huff worked three innings for a no-decision, while Sweeney went four innings and struck out four.
In the bottom of the fifth, Greenwood got rolling again when Zachary Davis – who had two triples in Monday’s 11-1 win over Madisonville-North Hopkins – smoked a double to the outfield fence. Cyler Talley followed with an RBI single to put the Gators up 2-0. Then with the bases loaded, Greenwood’s James Russell was hit by a pitch to force in another run. Reed McClard capped the rally when his ground ball was misplayed for an error, allowing another run to score.
Trailing 4-0 entering the top of the sixth, Logan County (0-1) answered with a rally. Davin Yates started it with a leadoff single, then Harper Butler followed with an RBI double to cut the deficit to three runs. Butler was thrown out at third trying to stretch his hit into a triple and Zachary Davis, who was pitching in relief, worked through the rest of the inning.
The Cougars threatened again in the top of the seventh by drawing consecutive walks to lead off the frame. That prompted Jaggers to switch from one Davis to another, with Cooper Davis coming on with a pair of runners on base.
Cooper Davis got a strikeout, induced a ground ball to second for a fielder’s choice and finally a pop-out to earn the save.
“Cooper was loose, he was ready to go,” Jaggers said. “Cooper did a great job when he came in, in a tough situation. You know, they’ve got the 9, 1, 2 (batters) coming up with Sweeney being one of the better hitters in the region – able to get a ground ball from him and get a pop-out to end the game.”
After two games at home, Greenwood is set to visit Allen County-Scottsville on Thursday. Logan County will host South Warren on Thursday.
LCHS 000 001 0 – 1 3 1
GHS 000 130 x – 4 7 0
WP – Zachary Davis. LP – Sweeney. SV – Cooper Davis.{&end}
