Carnes hurls Baldwyn to blowout win at King City Classic
Jul. 6—TUPELO — Jon Robert Carnes isn't the kind of player who needs a lot of coaching.
The big right-hander made some early adjustments and tossed a two-hit shutout as Baldwyn defeated Stix Baseball 11-0 in five innings to open the King City Classic on Thursday afternoon.
The two hits Carnes allowed both came in the first inning. He managed to strand those runners and cruised the rest of the way.
"It was obvious early that I could only throw off-speed for a strike, and if I did throw a fastball, my velocity was down. Just fixing mechanics and not being as predictable as I was," Carnes said.
The Pontotoc High School product struck out three and walked one. He retired the final 10 batters he faced.
"Each inning we talk about making some subtle changes, and he's able to do that," Baldwyn coach Shawn Hairald said. "To this point this summer, he's been a guy that we can lean on, and he hasn't changed my mind."
Carnes gave himself some early run support with a two-out RBI single in the first inning. The Blue Aces (7-4) added four runs in the second and six more in the fourth.
Baldwyn finished with seven hits and was aided by five Stix errors.
"Hitting-wise, we hit our sports, and that's what we want. Hopefully this will catapult us," Hairald said.
Cooper Dodds had two hits and scored two runs. Colin Boyd got two RBIs the hard way, as he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in both the second and fourth innings. Boyd also scored twice.
Benton Burks took the loss for Stix (5-5).
Baldwyn will next face Troy 19U (Ala.) at 2:30 p.m. Friday at Fulton City Park. Stix will meet Troy in the following game.
Extra Bases
Big Inning: Baldwyn scored six runs on three hits and three errors in the fourth.
Big Stat: Carnes threw 74 pitches.
Coach Speak: "Walks and errors in the field, any time anyone makes those, we expect those runs to cross." — Hairald
