By Stephen Henderson
The Patrick County High School varsity baseball team scrimmaged Salem High School Saturday, and Coach Matt Mabe came home with an encouraging impression of the team’s first outing of the season.
Salem is a 4-A team that is always competitive in the River Ridge District.
“We were really good defensively, not committing an error on a ball put in play during the seven-inning scrimmage,” he said. “Pitching was also a bright spot in that we threw five different pitchers. I thought we pitched to contact and challenged the opposition, something we must be consistent with throughout the season,” he said.
The Cougars were led offensively by veteran players Seth Scott and Eli Horton, both driving in runs during the contest. Austin Vernon and Aubrey Hopkins also had positive at-bats on the day. Seth Scott threw two scoreless innings, as both Dylan Phillips and Aaron Pack recorded a scoreless frame in their inning of work.
The scrimmage was played with free substitutions and both teams had a lineup of 11 players. This was done to get more at-bats for more players. The Cougars led 3-2 going into the bottom of the seventh inning before giving up two runs. The final score was 4-3.
“This week, we will focus on consistency as an offense, as well as fine tuning some things defensively against the run game,” Mabe said. “We scrimmage again this Wednesday (today) at home vs. Carroll County.”
The JV team will scrimmage at 4 p.m., and the varsity teams will begin around 6 p.m.
