Eastern, Ky. — Lawrence Co. ( 9-7 ) scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat Belfry 9-6 in the semifinals of the Class 2A section 8 tournament Tuesday at Floyd Central.
Will Lafferty did it on the mound and at the plate in a victory over Belfry.
Lawrence Co. trailed 5-0 going into the top of the fifth inning before rallying for five runs to tie it up.
Belfry scored once in the bottom of the fifth to make it 6-5 before the Bulldogs tied it up at 6 apiece in the seventh inning before taking the lead in the ninth and punching their ticket to the title game.
Will Lafferty was the winning pitcher in relief tossing five innings of shutout baseball, he allowed no runs, struck out seven, walked two and allowed two hits. At the plate Lafferty doubled, tripled and scored two runs.
Jake Derifield went the first four inning and only allowed one earned run, seven hits, walked three and struck out four Pirates. He also singled once.
Abner Collinsworth had two hits and three RBIs, Braydan Maynard had two hits including a double, drove in two runs and scored twice, Eli Fletcher had two hits, one RBI and scored three times, Cody Crum singled and scored a run and Dylan Whitt had one RBI.
Lawrence Co. 11 Magoffin Co. ( Monday )
In the first round of the Class 2A section 8 tournament at Floyd Central the Dawgs took care of the Hornets in five innings.
Braxton Davis picked up his first career varsity victory Monday evening.
Braxton Davis went the distance to get the win, gave up two hits, struck out six, walked two and allowed no earned runs. He also singled once.
Braydan Maynard had two hits including a double, drove in five runs and scored once, Abner Collinsworth had three hits including a double, drove in one and scored once, Cody Crum singled twice, had one RBI and scored once, Will Lafferty doubled and scored two runs, Jake Derifield singled, drove in two and scored once and Ryan Marcum singled and scored a run.
The Bulldogs will try and repeat as Section 8 Champions on Thursday night versus Letcher Co. Central ( 16-3 ) at Floyd Central first pitch will be 6:00.
Lawrence Co. Head Coach Travis Feltner
COACH’S COMMENTS
“… Just good to get back to the finals. Our guys showed some serious grit tonight that to be honest has been lacking. Hopefully that’s a sign of big things to come, Several offensive big moments tonight. Too many to name. Jake Derifield and Will Lafferty both did an excellent job on the mound to give us a shot.”
“… Blake Plater made a big winning type play in the bottom of the 8th back picking a runner. And Eli Fletcher had a huge read on dirt ball to put us up 3 runs. Those things don’t show up in box scores or highlights, but they are winning plays.”
“… On Monday night Braxton Davis did a nice job on the mound of taking care of business to get us started.”
“… Proud of our guys and we are looking forward to playing for a championship Thursday night against Letcher Co. Central.”
