Published: April 29, 2008 11:47 pm            

Greenup bats stay hot in rout of Devils

FLATWOODS — Greenup County batted around in the first inning for the second straight night in a 12-1 win over Russell on Tuesday night at Russell High School.

The Musketeers did the same thing against Raceland on Monday.

They sent 12 hitters to the plate in the first inning of Tuesday’s five-inning victory against Russell.

Eric Craft led off the game with a home run as the first nine Musketeers reached base. Zach Stringfellow was thrown out trying to steal second base before Tyler Hieneman hit a two-run shot to right center field. Greenup County scored seven times in the inning.

“This team just loves to hit,” said Greenup County coach Greg Logan. “They’ll hit as much as anybody will throw to them. I threw so much at batting practice today that I had to quit.

“We just kept hitting and hitting tonight. They weren’t cheap hits either. They were hitting balls into the gap and over the fence.”

Russell pitchers Drake DeHoff and Brandon Boyd were lucky enough to face the scorching Musketeers, who have won seven consecutive games.

DeHoff gave up the first seven runs and Boyd allowed the next five. Ten of the 12 runs were earned.

“We didn’t make all that bad of pitches,” said Russell coach Mike Martino. “They just hit it where it’s pitched. They’ll knock it over the fence, to the opposite field, wherever it is pitched. It’s an awesome lineup. They are by far the best hitting team in the region.”

The Musketeers (21-6) slugged out 10 hits and scored all twelve runs in the first two innings. Hieneman led the surge by going 2-for-2 with a double and a home run, driving in two runs.

Craft, Stringfellow, Zach Reed and Kyle Martin also had two RBIs apiece.

L.T. Rice and Drew Scaggs combined to pitch five innings and gave up only four hits for the Musketeers.

Greenup County’s defense executed three inning-ending double plays.

“I think we turned three double plays the entire year last year,” Logan said. “We came up here today and got three of them. That shows how funny the game of baseball is.”

Following a two-inning stint on the mound, Rice moved to first base where he had a couple of defensive gems of his own. He made two basket catches with his back to home plate.

“You really don’t even see those kinds of catches on Sportscenter,” Logan joked.

Jordan Roark relieved DeHoff and Boyd for Russell. The freshman submarine-style pitcher threw two scoreless innings and gave up just one hit.

“Jordan’s had a couple good outings now,” Martino said. “He’s learned to throw the breaking ball. I was really happy for him.”

The offense could not do much to pick up the slack though. The Red Devils (7-11) got its lone run on a sacrifice fly from Drake DeHoff in the second inning.

Russell plays at Raceland on Thursday night at 8 p.m. and Greenup County hosts Ashland tonight at 6 p.m.



GREENUP COUNTY 750 00 — 12 11 0

RUSSELL 010 00 — 1 4 3

Rice, Scaggs (3) and Logan; D. DeHoff, Boyd (1), Roark (3), Hamilton (5) and Rice. W—Rice. L—D. DeHoff. 2B—Greenup Co., Hieneman. HR—Greenup Co., Craft, Hieneman.

        

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