A key member of the Russellville pitching staff by the time he was an eighth grader, senior Corey Wright has been able to pitch very little for the Panthers the past two years because of an arm injury. He appeared to be at full strength Tuesday, though, when he shut out Allen County-Scottsville 7-0, only four days after he had pitched another 7-0 shutout.
The win was the 10th in the last 11 starts for the Panthers. Coach Greg Shelton’s team ran its record to 17-15 after starting 0-8 and 7-14.
Wright allowed the Patriots three hits and no walks while striking out nine in a dominant performance.
Barrett Croslin went three for four, including a double, and he scored three runs. Jacob Procter also had three hits while Wright, Zach Denney and Jordan Blick added two each. Desmon Quarles got the team’s 12th single, the 13th hit for the Panthers. Wright drove in three runs and Quarles two.
RHS 7, Butler County 0
Wright also pitched a 7-0 shutout against Butler County May 9. He stroked a two-run double while Croslin and Colby Nichols each had two hits. Procter also doubled while Logan Hannah singled. Croslin stole two bases and Hannah one.
Butler’s Trevor Parker doubled while Rex Henderson, Caleb Hunt and Eddie Phelps each got a hit. Henderson pitched a complete game for the Bears.
RHS 6, Christian County 5
The Colonels, who have also won seven games, were on the verge of taking a win back to Hopkinsville Monday, leading 5-3 as the Panthers came to bat in the seventh. But freshman Jordan Blick hit a two-run single to tie the game, and then Denney hit a massive home run to win the game.
The LoJo
The Panthers’ winning ways began with a 3-0 record in the Kelly Russell Classic at Kelly Russell Field April 24-26. Here’s a look at those three wins:
RHS 9, Butler County 4
Denney starred at the plate and on the mound to get things started. That story is on The LoJo at http://www.theloganjournal.com/Stories.aspx?Article=sports480.
UHA 6, RHS 3
Wright pitched this win in the morning game. Both teams got 11 hits, but Shelton’s Panthers doubled the runs scored on the Blazers. Wright homered and Procter doubled. Denney, Wright, Procter and Blick each had two hits while Croslin, Quarles, Wesley Stratton and Nichols each got one. Denney scored two runs with Croslin, Wright, Blick and T.K. Hampton each scoring one. Wright had three RBIs, Stratton two and Procter one.
After attending a ceremony in remembrance of the death of Kelly Russell and seeing the street between the baseball field and the school name for the Panther whose fatal injury came while wearing an RHS baseball uniform 40 years earlier, Shelton’s team beat a strong Madisonville-North Hopkins squad 9-5.
Denney homered and Wright and Croslin each doubled. Quarles and Nichols each had three hits and Croslin two. Denney, Wright and Hannah added a hit each. Denney and Nichols each drove in two runs with Croslin, Wright and Blick adding an RBI each. Croslin, Quarles and Nichols each stole a base. Stratton was hit by a pitch.
Croslin, who had been sidelined with an ankle injury earlier in the week, pitched the complete-game wi, giving up only three earned runs and walking just one Maroon.