By Stephen Henderson

The Patrick County High School junior varsity baseball team lost two games last week. Monday, the JV Cougars fell to Christiansburg at home 9-3. Wednesday, they traveled to Halifax and lost 6-1.

In Monday’s game against the Blue Demons, the Cougars were tied 3-3 going into the seventh inning.

“We made mistakes—mental and physical—that bit us,” said Coach Donald Rakes.

“We are a very young team without a lot of experience at this level. We did some good things and were competitive. This will be something we can learn from,” he added.

Landon Augustine and Nick Duncan had two hits for the Cougars while Josh Cockram and Jacob Mullis had one each. Josh Cockram pitched four innings while Kelon Penn pitched two and Nick Duncan pitched one.

In Wednesday’s game at Halifax, the JV Comets took control of the game with three runs in the first inning. Josh Cockram scored a run for the Cougars in the top of the fourth, but Halifax scored three more in the bottom of the fourth to hold on to the lead and the win 6-1.

Kelon Penn started on the mound for PC pitching two innings; Nick Duncan came in for four innings.

“Year in and year out, Halifax is always the toughest team on our schedule,” Rakes said. “We played them pretty tough. I was pleased with the way Nick and Kelon threw the ball and our defense,” Rakes said.

“We had some guys in scoring position but couldn’t get the key hits we needed. We are progressing—if we keep this level of play, we will be fine this year,” Rakes said.