The road was not kind to the Cougars' bats during the first six games of Logan County's 2010 baseball season, but the Cougars hit the ball well and often the next two games for blowout victories. Then they got timely hits and good enough pitching to win a third straight game.

"We really didn't play bad in those early games," says veteran coach Ethan Meguiar. "We just couldn't hit the ball, and when we did, they went directly to someone."

The Cougars have played their first dozen games on the road while a new outfield fence was being erected. The new fence is taller and deeper than what had served as the team's outer boundaries during their first 27 years of existence. Center field is now 350 feet instead of 335, and the wall is about twice as tall as it was out there.

The Cougars are scheduled to play their first home game of the season Monday against Warren East and then will entertain Franklin-Simpson Tuesday in a district contest. District games begin with afternoon JV action and then move on to the varsity at night.

Saturday, Logan won a doubleheader at Hopkins County Central to run the record to 5-7, but details are not yet available. A brief summary of the first nine games follows:

Barren County 2, Cougars 1
A two-out single in the bottom of the seventh inning gave Barren County the win over the Cougars March 23. Pitcher Lawton Jackson walked the first three batters in the inning, but catcher Dustin Cartas and shortstop Ryan Harper combined to get the leadoff runner out at second. Jackson got a strikeout for the second out, but Andrew London singled in Kelly Dillon with the winning run.
Brett Sowell had three hits and an RBI. Harper singled twice and Cartas singled in a run. Nate Oberhausen got the tying RBI when he reached on an error in the seventh, bringing in Harper, who had singled to lead off the inning. John Logan Dockins also walked in the inning, but was out in a rundown.

Allen County-Scottsville 2, Cougars 1
What was to have been the season opener but was postponed for weather was scoreless at the end of the regulation seven innings and went two extra frames before the Patriots got the win. Logan County's Oberhausen tallied the first run of the game in the eighth when he walked with one out and scored on wild pitches and stolen bases. AC-S tied in the bottom of the inning on a leadoff double, a bunt and an error, but the Patriots stranded the potential winning runner at third. In the ninth two doubles ended the game.
Sowell pitched seven scoreless innings, but the Cougars didn't get a hit in nine innings. Dustin Nash and Oberhausen reached on a walk each, but the Cougars struck out 12 times.

Glasgow 4, Cougars 2
Logan led 2-0 in the middle of the second and 2-1 until the middle of the fifth inning, but the Scotties scored three runs in the fifth to get the win.
Sowell reached on an error by the pitcher to start the second. John Logan Dockins singled and Matt Cook reached on an infield single. Oberhausen hit into a double play that scored Sowell, and Dockins came home on a wild pitch. Those hits were the only ones the Cougars managed in the game. Oberhausen picked up the only walk, and the Cougars fanned a dozen times again.
Nash pitched a 7-hitter. He walked three and struck out two.

Bullitt East 10, Cougars 0
The Cougars got six hits but couldn't get a run across. Designated hitter Gage Hales had two of the hits with Jacob Hopkins, Oberhausen, Sowell and Cartas each adding a single. Ryan Steenbergen and Hales worked their team's only walks. Jackson was the starting pitcher.

Greenwood 3, Cougars 0
All three runs scored in the second inning on a single, bunt, wild pitch and home run. Dockins pitched a 7-hitter. He struck out seven and walked just one.
Cartas got the Cougars' only hit and that came in the first inning. Dockins reached on an error in the second inning and advanced on Oberhausen's bunt, but he was stranded there. Jackson, who reached on an error in the fifth, was the only other Cougar baserunner.

Todd Central 2, Cougars 1
This was a painful district loss. Cartas singled and scored the Cougars' only run in the sixth inning. Sowell also singled and Oberhausen reached on an error in the inning. Nash got the Cougars' only other hit and he also reached on an error.
C.J. Broderick singled and scored the Rebels' first run in the first inning. Power also singled and Broderick scored on an error during a stolen base. What proved to be the winning run scored in the fourth when Edwards singled and advanced on two errors.
Neither run given up by Sowell was earned. Those were the only hits he allowed. Power pitched for Todd Central.

Cougars 17, Hart County 0
Logan broke out of its prolonged hitting slump in a big way, scoring the 17 runs on 16 hits. Cartas hit a pair of home runs among his three hits and drove in six. Nash had three hits, including a double, and scored three runs. Harper joined them with three runs and tripled among his two hits; he and Nash both had two RBIs. Also getting a pair of hits were Sowell and Cook. Hales hit a three-run homer. Also getting a hit were Dockins, Oberhausen and Hopkins.
Jackson pitched a 2-hitter. He struck out nine and walked just one batter.

Cougars 11, Edmonson County 3
Dockins doubled, singled, walked and reached on an error, scored four runs and sacrificed in another. Cartas had three hits and scored twice. Cook had two each of hits and runs. Nash had a single, reached on an error and scored. Sowell tripled in a run and scored. Hopkins had two hits and scored. Cody Bryant added a hit and an RBI. Jackson singled as the Cougars kept their bats alive.

Nash was the winning pitcher. He gave up two unearned runs in the first inning and a third run in the second, but retired 16 of the last 19 batters he faced.

Cougars 5, Metcalfe County 4
The Cougars scored all five runs in the first three innings and then held on for the win. In the first inning, Nash reached on an outfield error, Cartas doubled him in, Sowell walked and Oberhausen singled in a pair of runs. In the second, Bryant struck out but reached second on the catcher's error, Harper walked, and Cartas drove in Nash with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Sowell doubled to lead off the third, Dockins moved him over and he scored his second run of the game on Cook's sacrifice fly to left.
Dockins got the win, giving up the four runs on 10 hits. He struck out six and walked four. The tying run was on third base, but he got a strikeout to end the game and run the win streak to three.