Paducah Post 31 bombed Tri-County 15-5 in eight innings in a game that ended after midnight Thursday morning to complete the first round of the District 1 American Legion baseball tournament at Brooks Stadium. Paducah will meet Lyon County in Thursday night's winners-bracket final, with Mayfield taking on Tri-County in an elimination game.
Derek Roof and Kyle Courtney took the mound for Post 31, saving lefties Cody Forsythe and Allen Haase for the next two contests. As the host team, Paducah has an automatic bid to next week's state tournament at Brooks Stadium, but Post 31 is also hoping to extend its streak of nine consecutive district titles — Princeton prevailed in 1999 en route to a state runner-up finish.
Here are some extra news items from the first round:
• Derek Roof signed a letter-of-intent with Indiana this week, becoming the fourth member of his family to play in the Big Ten Conference. Cousin Shawn Roof played at Illinois and cousins Eric and Jonathan Roof were starters for Michigan State last spring.
• Jacob McMican's catching career is probably over. His response?
"I'm not that upset about it," McMican said after pitching five innings and finishing up at second base in Lyon County's 3-2 win over Mayfield.
McMican was a catcher and pitcher at Crittenden County but caught just five games at Three Rivers Community College this spring. He saw more action as a pitcher.
"We had a Division I catcher, a guy that signed at Arkansas State," he said. "I was an innings-eater. If we were behind, I was pitching."
McMican will play for Mid-Continent next year, a program that should be on the rise given head coach Shawn Yarbrough's success in recruiting area talent. McMican said Yarbrough told him he could "be a weekday starter and I can play some at third base."
• Lyon County coach Jason Wilson said he expects to go with left-hander Ronnie Howton against Paducah, and his first-night strategy was set with an eye on Friday.
McMican, who threw 66 pitches in five innings, thinks he could "close on Friday night or start on Saturday if I needed to." Donald Bush, who threw 40 pitches in four innings, could be on a similar schedule.
• Mayfield ace Roman Kelly worked an inning on relief, taking the loss against Lyon County, and chances are Mayfield will skip him against Tri-County to save him for Friday's action.
Let's assume for a minute that Paducah beats Lyon County on Thursday night. If Mayfield then beats the Aces in Friday's elimination game, it would earn a spot in next week's state tournament.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment