Cougars, Lions to matchup Monday
May 23—LOOGOOTEE — North Daviess and Loogootee both claimed run rule wins in the opening round of Class A sectional play at Les Page Field on Wednesday to set up a Cougar-Lion showdown in semifinal action on Memorial Day.
North Daviess claimed a five-inning, 11-1 win over Shoals while Loogootee downed Orleans 12-2, also in five innings.
In the nightcap, Shoals (0-13) opened the scoring against the North Daviess (15-7) starter, righthander Tyler Stoll, in the second inning when Braden Lents reached on an error, stole second base, then stole third base and came ahead around to score on a throwing error on the same play.
But the Jug Rox glory was short lived. The Cougars batted around in a 10-run third inning against Shoals starter Jameson Coy, pounding out nine hits, including four extra base hits. Kadin Stoll, Brock Knepp, and Landin Swartzentruber all doubled in the frame and Colton McNabb added a three-run homer to left field as the Cougars led 10-1 after three innings.
The Cougars added the winning run in the bottom of the fifth when Hayden Sample, ND's lead off hitter, doubled of Shoals reliever Carson Shaw, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a single to left by Kadin Stoll to end the contest via the 10-run rule. Sample, the first hitter in the Cougar batting order, also led off the 10-run third with a hit as the second time through the order was the downfall for Coy and the Jug Rox.
"I was looking for us to get a hot start from the beginning, it didn't happen but thankfully we got it going," said North Daviess coach Joe Wilson. "We started to get our gap shots in there. It was a good night for us.
"That happens to us a lot, I would like for us to not wait a whole lineup rotation, but against the better teams they're not going to let us hang around that long," said Wilson. "Hopefully we can get better at that and keep on improving."
Tyler Stoll went the first three innings for the Cougars, striking out six and issuing just one walk. Zane Sample pitched two scoreless innings in relief following Stoll.
"We got some younger arms out there, just a sophomore and freshman," said Wilson. "They're a part of our plans moving forward In tournament play. We were just happy to get them out there and get some experience, they did a good job."
The opener mirrored the second game as Orleans (1-15) scored the game's first two runs, only to see Loogootee (10-10) bat around during a six-run second inning to take a 6-2 lead. The Lions added two runs each in the third, fourth, and fifth innings to reach the 10-run rule plateau.
Isaac Wagner did the job on the hill for the Lions, picking up the win while also reaching base all three trips to the plate and scoring twice. Jackson Bauer doubled twice for the Lions.
