Published: May 07, 2008 11:38 pm            

Lawrence bats back Michael

Mound presence ‘difference’ as Bulldogs beat East, 12-2

LOUISA — Lawrence County senior pitcher Lewis Michael had a solid performance, and his teammates backed him up with the bats, as the Bulldogs cruised to a 12-2 win over East Carter on Wednesday evening.

“We came off that tough loss to Greenup County (Tuesday) with young pitchers,” Lawrence County coach Randy Keeton said. “Today we threw our senior — one of our top two or three pitchers — and I think that was the difference.”

Michael pitched the complete, five-inning game, giving up an earned run off five hits. He struck out five and walked only two batters.

East Carter countered with freshman Tyler Clay, who threw three complete innings, giving up four runs off six hits. Three pitchers worked for the Raiders in the final two frames.

“(Clay) has thrown some good games,” Raiders coach Jeremiah Shearer said. “He was 3-1 coming in but he got rattled and they took advantage of him on the bases. He really showed his age tonight and good teams are going to bring that out in him, but it was a good learning experience for him.”

Lawrence County got the offense going early. In the bottom of the first, Michael helped his own cause by driving in Jeff Cyrus with a stand-up double. In the second, the Bulldogs had three consecutive hits to drive in a pair of runs for a 3-0 lead.

Lawrence County manufactured runs in every inning, including a big five-run fourth.

Cyrus led the offense, going 3-for-3 from the plate and also reached via a walk. He drove in a run and scored three times.

“Jeff’s hitting over .400 and he’s really been on a tear in the last five games,” Keeton said. “Those are the kinds of things we expect out of him and he played really solid shortstop, too.”

However, the Bulldog defense as a whole wasn’t as solid as Keeton would have liked.

“They came through some but we made at least four or five errors,” he said. “The part of our game that carried us for a month was defense and now our defense is letting down a little bit.”

With the 57th District Tournament looming in less than two weeks, it’s enough to concern Keeton.

“For us to do well in the tournament, defense can’t give up four errors a game. The kids that are making some of these errors are guys that have been starting for three years.”

East was able to capitalize on some of the Bulldog miscues. Tyler Jackson led off the third and reached on a misjudged hop in the infield. Tyler Back’s two-out single drove in Jackson and Craig Brammer reached on an error, but both were stranded in scoring position.

The Raiders tacked on a run in the fifth when Derek Stapleton scored because of an error. A botched double-play allowed Brammer to reach first safely and keep the inning alive, but a fly ball to center stranded he and Back in scoring position.

“(Michael) is a pretty good pitcher, but we did put the ball in play a lot against him,” Shearer said. “Defensively, I think we made two or three errors and overall it was just a disappointing performance. If you make one or two mistakes, you’re in trouble against them.”

The Raiders slipped to 19-9 on the year with their third straight loss. East travels to Fairview today and hosts Ashland on Saturday.

Lawrence County improved to 18-7 after losing two of their last three games. The Bulldogs host Ashland today at 6 p.m.

EAST CARTER 001 01 — 2 5 2

LAWRENCE CO. 121 53 — 12 10 3

Clay, Stapleton (4), Burchett (5), Brammer (5) and Back; Michael and Hayes. W — Michael, L — Clay. 2B: Michael (LC), Hayes (LC), Laney (LC), Hackney 2 (LC).

        

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