BCMS Bears on the diamond

 

 

By Greg Moore

Banner Sports Editor

 

The Butler County Middle School has had the winningest coach in Butler County sports history in retirement-mode from the ball diamond. Coach John Embry, who dedicated many years to the sport of fast pitch softball and retired from it, has put his hat back on to coach the BCMS Bears in baseball.

Coach Embry and his Bears have been active. They have competed in four doubleheaders and their record rests at a 4-4 clip. They split with Glasgow to start the season before taking two from Grayson County to open the season at 3-1. Franklin-Simpson stymied the Bears’ bats, winning both games and the Bears split with Todd-Central.

Brody West got the win on the mound in the second game of the doubleheader with Glasgow. West did not allow a hit over three-plus innings. He sat down six on strikeouts while walking two batters. Charlie McKinney, Clay Amos, Deacon Phelps, J.T. Reid, and Maddox Keown each collected hits in the 9-1 victory.

In the first game with Grayson County, the contest went back and forth. West, who had two hits, doubled in the third inning to solidify the win for the Bears, 10-6. Levi Forbes got the win on the bump. He struck out eight Cougars over three innings of work. Colton LeBlanc collected the save. Evan Darsey stayed on base with three walks. Reid led the Bears with three runs driven in.

 

 

West got another win on the hill in the nightcap with Grayson County. He gave up only one hit, walked three, and struck out five. Keown finished off the Cougars to secure the win, 6-3, after LeBlanc’s three-run double broke the 3-3 tie. Noah Cockerell led BCMS with two hits.

In a three-game stint, the Bears struggled to plate runners when they did get them on. In that stretch, Keown, Phelps, Forbes, LeBlanc, and Elijah Barrow mustered hits sparingly, but the two runs was all they could scratch before the finale with Todd-Central.

Keown and Darsey each drove in runs for the Bears. Keown got the win while fanning five. Cockerell saved the win for Keown in relief of the 6-4 get-right win for the Bears. The .500 Bears will stay busy over the next four weeks.

BCMS will travel to Greenville for a DH with Muhlenberg County on Thursday after going to Todd County on Monday. On Saturday, the Bears will host Franklin-Simpson starting at 11:00am. Get over to the high school field to watch these young Bears play hard for Coach Embry.