| The latest in Obion Central’s long streak of losses was easily the most painful.
Up 3-1 with two outs and two strikes on a batter in the top of the seventh, the Rebels watched as Ripley erupted for six runs to deal OC a heartbreaking 7-3 setback Tuesday night at Troy.
Central has now lost 15 straight since beating Gleason to open the season.
In other baseball action Tuesday, Union City continued its roll through District 14A with an 11-4 victory over Bradford, while South Fulton lost to Humboldt 6-4.
Softball play saw UC whip Lake County 13-3, and Dyersburg blank Obion Central 3-0.
The following is a recap of the day’s action.
BASEBALL
Ripley 7, OC 3
The Rebels outplayed the visitors for practically the entire game before seeing the chance at victory slip away.
Ripley was aided in its last at-bat rally by an error — one of three in the contest by Central.
OC outhit the Tigers 7-4 and grabbed a 2-0 first-inning lead, an advantage they held throughout the game.
Camden Napper was the hard-luck pitching loser, giving up just three hits. Four of the six runs charged against him were earned, and he struck out four, walked four and hit three batters in 62⁄3 innings. Ryan Middlebrook got the last out and was charged with a run.
Colton Carr went 3-for-3 with a double, a run scored and a RBI to pace the Obion Central offense.
Chase Starks doubled, John Foster had a hit and an RBI, and both Napper and Jacob Hyde had singles and scored.
The Rebels are scheduled to play at Blytheville (Ark.) on Thursday before traveling to Westview Friday.
Central’s lone remaining District 13AA series will be played next week vs. Dyersburg.
UC 11, Bradford 4
The Tornadoes will carry a perfect 11-0 district mark into today’s showdown vs. second-place Trenton after completing a season sweep of Bradford at Elam Stadium Tuesday.
Eric Moore had three hits and Clay Treece drove in three runs with a triple and a single for UC, which improved to 18-5 overall.
Winning pitcher Drew Cooley (5-1) helped himself with a pair of hits and two RBIs, while Drake Parker had two hits and scored two runs as part of Union City’s 12-hit attack.
Cooley, whose seasonal earned run average is 2.20, struck out seven and scattered 12 hits in going the distance.
The Tornadoes broke open a relatively tight game by scoring four runs in both the fourth and sixth frames.
Union City has one final District 14A series remaining, against Halls next week.
The Twisters will play non-district games next week vs. USJ and Milan prior to the start of the 14A tournament the first week of May.
Halls will host this year’s district event.
Humboldt 6, SF 4
The Red Devils (7-12, 2-10), who rallied from a seven-run deficit on Monday, couldn’t climb out of a 6-1 hole.
Ryan Prince, Austin Hazlewood and Skylar Grissom all had two hits — both Prince and Hazlewood stroking a double — to pace SF offensively.
Curtis Cathey drove in a pair of runs with a single for the Redmen.
Prince (2-5) struck out 13, but was charged with the pitching loss.
South Fulton hosts Gleason on Thursday and Carlisle County Friday.
The Devils have a home-and-home 14A series against Bradford next week that will decide their seed in the district tournament.
SOFTBALL
UC 13, Lake Co. 3
Brittany Parker shined both at the plate and on the mound to help the Lady Tornadoes bounce back from consecutive losses.
Parker went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and allowed just one earned run and four hits while fanning five in a complete-game effort to improve her pitching mark to 5-1.
Courtney Sherrill doubled, tripled and drive in a run, while Tory Reedy had two hits — including a triple — and chased home three tallies.
Ivey Westbrooks also contributed a pair of safeties to UC’s 11-hit attack.
The Lady Twisters will take an 11-5 record into today’s game with SF, where they’ll look to avenge a bitter 2-1 loss to the Devilettes on Friday.
South Fulton is the lone team unbeaten in district play this season.
The District 14A Tournament will be hosted this season by Halls.
Dyersburg 3, OC 0
The Lady Rebels — playing just their second home game of the season — could muster but two hits and fell to 10-10-2 on the season.
Carly Whipple tripled and Calli Johnson had a single for OC, which had dropped an earlier 3-2 decision to the Lady Trojans.
Baylie Boucher was the losing pitcher.
Central hosts Haywood on Thursday before another weekend of travels — playing in the Waverly Diamond Classic in Dickson on Friday and Saturday.
A home game Monday against Ripley and away matchups vs. Halls (Tuesday) and Haywood (Thursday) make up OC’s extended schedule next week. Published in The Messenger 4.17.13 |
