Blake Gettings pitched a jewel Saturday in leading the Logan County Cougars to a win at highly regarded Glasgow Saturday.
Coach Sam Royse, who is in his fourth decade at the GHS helm, had directed his team to a 5-1 record going into the game. The Scotties had outscored their opponents 43-6. No team had scored more than two runs against them. But Coach Ethan Meguiar’s Cougars beat them 6-0.
Gettings, a senior, went the full seven innings, allowing no runs on a single hit. He only walked one Scottie and struck out two. The hit was by junior leadoff batter Ryan Hinkley. Classmate Matthew Shives worked the lone base on balls.
The Cougars face their crosstown rival, Russellville, at Kelly Russell Field Thursday at 5 p.m. It will be the first meeting for the Cougars against a Panther team coached by Greg Shelton, but certainly not their first meeting with Shelton, the long-time Franklin-Simpson coach.
The Panthers have a 5-4 record but have not yet reported any statistics. They will leave for Florida this weekend during spring break.
The Cougars blew out Glasgow thanks to six hits, including two extra base hits. They scored two runs in the fifth on an RBI single by Dustin Cartas and an RBI double by Matt Harper.
In the second inning rally, two runs crossed the plate on an error and a sacrifice fly by Arik Haynes. Cody Hunt scored on an error in the sixth.
The extra-base hits came on doubles by Gage Hales and Harper. Hales reached twice on errors while Joe Holliday, Ryan Basham and Hunt. Cartas was hit by a pitch while Hales, Cartas and Caleb Bruner each stole a base.
The Cougars won their first three of the games, beating Hopkinsville, Warren East and Ohio County before losing 5-1 to Greenwood and 6-3 to Bowling Green.
According to Assistant Coach Adam Decker, Cartas leads the team in batting (.588), hits (10), on-base percentage (.682) and RBIs (8). He and Hales have each homered once while he has joined Holliday and Ian Woodall with four walks each. Basham and Harper have each scored four runs. Harper, a sophomore who missed the second half of last season with a knee injury, has 5 hits and is batting .367 with an on-base average of .571. Basham is batting .360 with an on-base mark of .381.Woodall, who has been hit by a pitch twice in addition to his four walks, has a .364 on-base percentage.
Bruner has 3 hits with Hales, Hunt and Woodall getting 2 each. Luke Woodall has scored three times as a courtesy runner. Also seeing varsity action have been pitcher Thomas Miller, Jacob Wood, Daniel Beatty and Hunter Britt.