East Carter, Morgan County earn first-round wins

Staff report

WEST LIBERTY May 20, 2008 12:02 am

— East Carter and Morgan County each posted first-round wins in Monday’s rainy 62nd District Tournament and will battle for the title Wednesday evening.
The Raiders downed Elliott County 12-1 in five innings to open the tournament, taking advantage of five Lion errors.
East’s Dylan McDavid pitched a two-hitter and fanned 10 Lions to notch the win.
East Carter used a big seven-run second to help build a 9-0 lead after three. Elliott tried to respond in the top of the fourth when Ben Rowe drove in Tyler Maynard with a bases-loaded, one-out infield single. McDavid recovered and promptly struck out the next two batters to work out of the jam.
The Raiders tacked on three runs in the bottom of the inning and retired the side in the fifth to end the game.
Crestin Salyers led a balanced offensive attack, going 2-for-2 from the plate for East. The Raiders pushed 12 runs across on only six hits.
Three pitchers worked for Elliott with starter Jeremy Wagoner taking the loss.
Morgan County had a pair of four-run innings to blank West Carter 10-0 in six innings in the night cap.
The Cougars scored four in the second to open up a 6-0 lead after three complete. That score stood until the bottom of the sixth when Morgan again pushed across four runs with no outs to end the game.
Jon Lopez pitched all six innings for Morgan, giving up three hits and striking out 11 batters. David Valdepena pitched five-plus innings for West to take the loss.
Four Cougars led a balanced offensive attack with two hits apiece.
The Cougars will defend the district title against East Carter Wednesday at 7 p.m.