“That’s as good a high school game as you’ll see,” said Cougar head coach Tal Swails, following the game with Carroll County.
There was a big-game atmosphere at Cougar Field when Class 3 top ten Carroll County visited the Class 2 top five Patrick County Cougars on April 17. It was also a matchup of the top two teams in the Three Rivers District, and the game more than lived up to expectations, going into extra innings with Carroll County taking the 3-2 win.
Carroll County took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second, only to have the Cougars tie it up in the bottom half of the inning. Calvin Lancaster got things going with a double into right center. A Zach Holt sacrifice bunt moved Lancaster to third, and he was driven in to tie the game on an Easton Harris single.
The Cougars took the lead in the fourth when Erik Martinez-Tejada hit a long fly ball to deep center field that was misplayed by the Carroll County fielder, driving in Zach Holt for the 2-1 lead.
Carroll County tied the game in the sixth, 2-2. In the bottom of the sixth, the Cougars threatened, loading the bases, but could not put any runs across.
In the top of the seventh, Carroll County had runners on first and second with one out, and looked to take the lead on a well-hit ball to deep center. Cougar center fielder Jaiden Wilson grabbed the ball and fired it home where catcher Martinez-Tejada tagged out the runner, keeping the game tied at 2. With two outs and the bases loaded, third baseman Zach Holt made a fantastic play on a hard-hit ball down the line, making the long throw to first for the final out of the inning, again, keeping a go-ahead run from scoring and sending the game into extra innings.
Carroll County scored in the top of the eighth to take a 3-2 lead, and holding the Cougars scoreless, left with the extra inning win.
“It was one of those games that whoever snuck one in late was going to win,” said coach Swails. “The defense was incredible on both sides. We played unbelievable defense, and we pitched it pretty well.”
Christian Hylton got the start for the Cougars, going 6.1 innings, allowing just 5 hits and striking out 3. Calvin Lancaster went 2-4 at the plate, scoring a run. Zach Holt scored the other Cougar run, going 1-1, while Easton Harris chipped in an RBI.
“You can’t hang your head on a game like that. Carroll County is a really good baseball team,” said Swails, adding his team has “nothing to be ashamed of. They competed their tails off and we’ll come back and get James River on Tuesday.”
