Belfry senior slugger Jake Varney blasted a grand slam to help lead Belfry to a 6-5 win at Paintsville on Thursday night.
Varney cranked a deep drive over the left field fence into the City of Paintsville pool to give the Pirates a 6-0 lead in the second inning.
Coach Michael Hagy’s club would need every one of those runs as the Tigers scored three runs in the fifth and then plated two more in the bottom of the seventh to cut the score to 6-5.
Coach Hagy called on 8th grader Carter Jude to come in and help them get out of the jam and he got the job done as he struck out his lone batter to pick up the save.
Jonathan Banks earned the win on the bump as he started and went 4.2 innings allowing four unearned runs on two hits with seven strikeouts and four walks.
8th grader Dant Davis pitched a scoreless inning in relief allowing two hits with one strikeout while Isaiah Stanley also pitched an inning in relief and allowed two runs on one hit with two punchouts and four walks.
Belfry had taken a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning when senior catcher Devin Jude delivered a single into center that scored brothers Jonathan and Steven Banks.
8th grader Bryce Hagy had a hit and scored a run for the Pirates.
The win for Belfry brought their record to 2-3 on the young season.
Score by Innings
BHS: 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 — 6 4 1
PHS: 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 — 5 5 1
JOHNSON CENTRAL 7 BELFRY 4 (Tuesday, March 21)
Johnson Central scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break open a tie game and come away with a 7-4 win on Tuesday night.
Belfry fell behind 2-0 early on but tied the game up in the top of the third as Jake Varney belted a two-run homer to straightaway center field.
JC pulled back ahead at 4-2 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth but the lead didn’t last long as the Pirates went to work at the plate in the ensuing top of the fifth.
Jake Varney and Noah Brown were each hit by a pitch to start the inning and then Varney came around to score on a wild pitch to make it 4-3.
Junior Jonah Adkins then delivered an RBI single to center to score Brown and tie the game up at four all. The Pirates couldn’t add any more runs as they stranded a pair of runners on base to end the inning.
Isaiah Stanley, Steven Banks, and Michael Hagy each had singles on the night for Belfry to go along with the knocks from Varney and Adkins.
Sanley took the loss in relief as he fired two innings and allowed three runs on two hits with four punchouts and three walks. Brown started the game and threw four innings allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits with five Ks and a walk.
Score by Innings
BHS: 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 — 4 5 2
JCHS: 1 1 0 2 0 3 x — 7 8 1
SHELBy VALLEY 11 BELFRY 8 (Monday, March 20)
Shelby Valley plated eight runs in the fifth inning to come away with an 11-8 lead on Monday night against Belfry.
The Pirates took a quick 1-0 lead to start the game as Isaiah Stanley led off with a double and then later came in to score on a RBI groundout from Jonathan Banks.
Belfry fell behind 2-1 but grabbed the lead back in the top of the third thanks to back-to-back RBI base knocks from Noah Brown and Devin Jude.
The Wildcats knotted the game up at three apiece and then it was like déjà vu for Belfry in the top of the fifth as Brown and Jude once again delivered back-to-back RBI. This time Jude’s RBI knock drove in two runs as Belfry went on top 6-3.
The Pirates fell apart on defense in the bottom of the inning however as they committed three errors in the inning and their pitchers allowed four walks and a hit by pitch.
Shelby Valley scored eight runs in the fifth and got just three hits in the frame, all singles.
The Pirates added two more runs in the sixth as Jake Varney lofted a sacrifice fly and then Brown added another RBI single to cut the lead to 11-8. However, they could not get any closer the rest of the way.
Jonah Adkins took the loss as he went four innings and allowed eight runs, just three of them earned, on eight hits with five punchouts and two walks. 8th grader Dante Davis pitched well in relief as he pitched 1.1 hitless innings and fanned two batters while walking one.
Jude and Brown both had three singles and three RBIs to lead the way for Belfry at the plate while Jonathan Banks also singled three times, knocked in a run, and crossed the plate three times.
The double from Stanley and a single from Jake Varney made up the other hits for BHS.
Score by Innings
BHS: 1 0 2 0 3 2 0 — 8 10 1
SVHS: 0 2 1 0 8 0 x — 11 11 2