GOODY, Ky. — Belfry scored nine runs in the first inning against 60th District rival Pike Central on Sunday afternoon at home and the Pirates never looked back as they cruised to a 14-4 win in five innings.
The win for coach Michael Hagy’s Pirates gave them the regular season district title as they are 2-0 against district opponents on the year. Belfry will now have the No. 1 seed in the 60th District Tournament which will be hosted by Pike Central later this month.
The Pirates nine run first inning was aided in part due to Hawk starting pitcher Dalton Harris walking the first five out of six batters to start the game. The only batter he didn’t walk was Noah Brown as he hit an RBI grounder and was able to reach on an error to make it 3-0.
After a strikeout for the first out, Belfry’s Chase Varney singled on a hard-hit ball to left field and two more runs came home to make it 5-0 Pirates.
Later in the inning after a walk to Isaiah Stanley loaded the bases, senior slugger Jonathan Banks provided the big blow of the inning as he crushed a grand slam home run to right field to make it a 9-0 game.
Belfry added four more runs in the home half of the third inning as Jonathan Banks knocked in another run on an RBI groundout and then winning pitcher Jonah Adkins helped his own cause as he ripped a bases clearing double to left field to bring in three runs and make it a 13-0 game.
The Hawks scored three runs in the fourth and one in the fifth to make it a 13-4 game but then Adkins ended it in the bottom of the fifth as he singled to score Bryce Hagy which gave Belfry the 10-run mercy-rule win.
Adkins went 4.1 innings on the mound and allowed four runs on seven hits while striking out eight Pike Central batters and walking only one. Jonathan Banks pitched 0.2 hitless innings and struck out a batter.
Banks paced Belfry in RBIs with five while Adkins was right behind him with four runs knocked in on his two base hits. Brown was hitless but had two walks, two RBIs, and two runs scored while Chase Varney had the two-run single.
David Michael Hagy added a triple while Steven Banks, Jake Varney, and Devin Jude all singled. Isaiah Stanley walked three times and scored three runs from his leadoff spot.
The win for Belfry was their fourth straight as they improved their record to 13-10 on the season.
HD Media reporter Jarrid McCormick covers sports in Southern West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky.
