Caleb Bruner pitched a three-hit shutout and Dustin Cartas doubled twice in one inning as the Logan County Cougars beat Russellville 7-0 in the first game of the 13th District Tournament at Franklin-Simpson Monday.
The game was actually a pitchers’ duel with Panther hurlers Jacob Procter and Zach Denney matching Bruner’s excellence except in one disastrous inning. Coach Ethan Meguiar’s Cougars scored all seven runs in the fourth inning on just two hits—those two doubles.
Cartas led off the fourth with one of those doubles and courtesy runner Michael Riley scored when Matt Harper’s grounder was booted. Ian Woodall sacrifice bunted Harper over before Cody Hunt and Ryan Basham were hit by pitches. Thomas Miller then drew a bases-loaded walk for an RBI. After an out, Gage Hales worked another bases-loaded walk, and runners came home when Bruner reached on an error. Runs six and seven scored on Cartas’ second double of the frame.
Deuces were wild as those seven runs scored on two hits, two walks, two hit batsmen, and two errors.
Hales got the only other hit by the winners with a leadoff single in the first inning. Yet all nine batters got on base. Hales, Woodall, Miller and Joe Holliday all walked. Harper and Bruner reached on errors, and Riley, the tenth Cougar to play, scored a run.
Bruner, who struck out eight Panthers, pitched a perfect game through 11 batters. Then Corey Wright singled with two outs in the fourth. Procter got the first of his two hits as the leadoff batter in the fifth, but Bruner struck out the next three Panthers. In fact, he recorded eight straight outs until Procter singled with two outs in the seventh, but Procter got freshman Colby Nichols to fly out to left to end the Panther season. Coach Greg Shelton’s first RHS team finished 17-16 with three of the losses to the Cougars.
Also starting for the Panthers on Greg Shelton Field were Barrett Croslin, Tyler Hall, Wesley Stratton, Dalton Clark and Crewsdon Kemp.
For the 22-10 Cougars, the win put them in the district finals for the 13th time in 14 seasons. Tuesday night they beat Franklin-Simpson for the championship by this same 7-0 score in eight innings.