Bears fall to Wildcats — Win two to finish out week
Shortstop Justin Castlen works through the hop on the ground ball to throw out the batter-runner at first. PHOTO | Greg Moore
By Greg Moore
Sports Editor
The Butler County Bears have returned from spring break with the cancellation of school postponing Monday’s Butler/Edmonson matchup. So, the Tuesday game was played, but the makeup in Morgantown is set for May 8th.
While this may not seem like a problem, the back-to-back night in district games is setup for good reason. It does not allow one team to throw their number-one pitcher in both contests. Nonetheless, that will not be the case more than likely when the Wildcats come to Morgantown.
Edmonson County will probably pitch their ace, Hunter Wilson, who gave up only three hits to the Bears in Brownsville last week as the Wildcats sealed a 3-1 win behind his performance. Eli Oaks pitched six strong innings for Coach Bo West, who spent numerous years leading the Wildcats’ program.
Despite Oaks allowing only six hits while striking out ten Wildcats, the lack of production at the plate for Butler County was crucial. Coach West knows the remedies and his Bears will grind until the finish. “For the next month, it will be our focus,” Coach West shared.
Sam Hyatt got a hit off Wilson and stole a base. Brycen Mode, who had two hits on the day, doubled home Hyatt for the Bears lone run. Wilson, who sat down 18 batters, also got it done at the plate; he helped his cause by delivering two hits, a walk, and scoring twice for Edmonson County.
Sam Hyatt puts the bat on the ball to drive in a runner against the Bulldogs. PHOTO | Greg Moore
Thursday, the Bears ran wild at Caverna; then, again, against John Hardin in Morgantown on Friday. Combined, they outhit the Colonels and Bulldogs 25 to three. Butler County, who improved 8-7 on the season, stole ten bases on 11 attempts in Horse Cave and five at home against the Bulldogs.
In the 18-1 win over Caverna, Mode, Oaks, and Phelps combined to drive in ten runs. Mode, who has went down swinging only twice the entire season while hitting over .500, had two extra-base hits, a triple and a double. Oaks had a double for the Bears’ only other extra base hit.
Phelps and Justin Castlen, who got the win in over two innings of work, both had two base hits. Mason West and Colt Akers cleaned off the Colonels behind Castlen’s five strikeouts in 2.1 innings on the bump. West got four whiffs in 1.2 while Akers chalked up a K in an inning of work.
Mason West delivers a pitch against the John Hardin Bulldogs in last Friday’s action. PHOTO | Greg Moore
Phelps, who swiped five bags in the two contests, went 4 for 4 hitting on Friday. Brock Henderson and West both had two hits in the 10-0, one-hitter win by a trio of BC pitchers—West, Phelps, and Duncan Tyree. Mode and Henderson both were credited with two runs batted-in against the Bulldogs of John Hardin.
West, who got the nod and the win, went 1.1 in the start after needing only 18 pitches in nearly two innings on Thursday. He was effective for three more strikeouts; Tyree fanned five batters over his 2.2 innings. Phelps slammed the door by striking out the side in the fifth and final inning.
After Trinity to open this week, Butler will host Russellville on Thursday before traveling to Warren Central to end the work week. Starting off next week will be the district back-to-back against Grayson County, who sit at 8-9 on the season. It will be played in Morgantown on Monday and at the Grayson County High School on Tuesday.
