Published: May 01, 2008 11:57 pm            

Tomcats bounce back against Boyd

CANNONSBURG — Ashland’s baseball team wasted no time bouncing back from Wednesday’s 2-0 loss to defending 16th Region champion Greenup County.

Junior left-hander Chandler Johnson worked five strong innings and the Tomcats banged out nine hits Thursday night in a 7-2 victory over Boyd County at Addington Field.

Boyd County defeated the Tomcats 8-6 nine days earlier, but Ashland struck for three quick runs this time and never surrendered the lead.

“It’s always good when you can come into Boyd County and beat them,’’ said Tomcat left-fielder Alex Bonnette, who had two singles and reached safely all four trips to the plate. “They are just a real good team and well coached. A win like this gets you fired up.’’

Johnson limited Boyd County to four singles and did not walk a batter through five innings. Chase Adkins finished out on the mound with two scoreless innings.

“Chandler threw strikes and worked ahead of the hitters,’’ said Ashland coach Jeff Wilcox. “He let his defense work for him and we made some nice plays.’’

Ashland improved to 16-6 with a performance that drew praise from Boyd County coach Ben Maynard.

“They played a very good game,’’ Maynard said. “They do things well and play with confidence in each other and as a team. Ashland is probably the second-best team in the region right now behind Greenup County.’’

The Tomcats held a 3-2 lead for three innings before pulling away with a four-run sixth. The big inning included three singles — including a Bonnette bunt — along with three Boyd County errors and two hit batsmen.

Nick Jackson was hit by a pitch to lead off the sixth. Bonnette then beat out a bunt, with an errant throw to first allowing Jackson to come all the way around. He scored on a nice slide around Boyd County catcher Brad Cornwell.

Cris Duvall and Dylan Delaney also had singles in the inning for the Tomcats, who sent 10 batters to the plate.

“After the loss to Greenup County, we were just trying to get back to the winning side of things,’’ Bonnette said. “I think we’re just starting to mesh. The sticks have been coming along lately.’’

The Tomcats bunched three singles and two walks in the first inning for a 3-0 lead against Boyd County pitcher Derek Tengowski, who drew both starts against Ashland. Trey Keaton’s bad-hop single drove in a pair of runs.

In the second inning, Boyd County center-fielder Chase Wiler made a sparkling catch at the fence on Caleb Rigsby’s drive to prevent Ashland from scoring.

Jason Rosen and Wiler singled to start the bottom half of the inning and came around to score, but Ashland’s Johnson and Adkins blanked the Lions the rest of the way. Adkins struck out the last two batters after Logan Helms tripled to right-center field.

Boyd County (11-13) plays host to Covington Catholic tonight at 8:30 in the Chick-Fil-A Derby Classic. Ashland’s home doubleheader tonight begins at 6 against Lewis County. The Tomcats will play Rose Hill Christian in the second game.



ASHLAND 300 004 0 — 7 9 1

BOYD CO. 020 000 0 — 2 5 3

Johnson, Adkins (6) and Duvall; Tengowski, Pauley (6) and Cornwell. W—Johnson. L—Tengowski. 2B—Miller (A). 3B—Helms (BC).

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.