Baseball, softball seasons come to end at regionals

Tyus Taylor collected Fleming County’s lone hit in its regional tournament game against West Carter. The Panther junior center fielder also recorded two putouts in the game won by the Comets 6-1. Photo by Brad Laux/1016sports.

Fleming County and Nicholas County each advanced to its respective regional tournament in both baseball and softball. However, the stay was short lived as each bowed out in the quarterfinals to end its season.

In baseball, West Carter defeated the Panthers 6-1 and George Rogers Clark upended the Bluejackets 12-2 in five innings. In softball, Ashland toppled the Lady Panthers 5-0, while Mason County downed the Lady Jackets 8-6.

Host Fleming County (9-20) hung with West Carter (25-7) in the baseball match up. The Comets scored three times in the first, but the Panthers got a run back in the fourth.

Errors were a double-edged sword for Fleming, as it both benefitted and suffered from them. The Panthers picked up their only hit of the game on Tyus Taylor’s third-inning bunt. An error allowed Taylor to move to second on the play, but he was left stranded there and the Comets retired the next three batters.

Back-to-back West Carter errors led off the fourth inning and eventually resulted in the hosts’ lone run. T.J. Miller reached on a throwing miscue and moved all of the way around the bases courtesy of another errant throw on a dropped third strike during Harrison Fryman’s at bat.

West Carter added three insurance runs in the sixth, but Fleming County threatened in the seventh after Josh Crump and Max Mitchell each drew a walk with one out. The Comets’ defense quelled any attempt at a late rally by retiring the final two batters.

Both coaches were disappointed with the overall performance of their teams.

“Fielding-wise, we made some good plays. We made a few plays at the plate,” said Fleming County’s Austin Hart, who struggled to find positives about the game. “We actually caught one pop up in the infield and we dropped another one. Every coach in the dugout told (the team) after the first one that a pitcher does not catch fly balls in the infield, then we let one drop. So, nothing really good comes out of this game.”

“We didn’t play real well tonight, but we had excellent pitching,” West’s T.J. Johnson said. “Zack Walker went out and gave us four strong innings. … I think that was the key for us tonight, because we didn’t hit the ball. The balls we did hit hard were right at them.”

Fryman took the loss despite pitching five and one-third innings and allowing just two earned runs on seven hits. He also had three strikeouts and five walks. Miller faced the final three batters to close out the night. He surrendered one hit in two-thirds innings of work.

Walker pitched the first four innings for the Comets to earn the win. He finished with one unearned run on one hit with five strikeouts and three walks. Dalton Brown was credited with a save after throwing three hitless and scoreless innings. Brown also had four strikeouts and two walks.

Fleming’s late challenge concerned Johnson.

“Dalton Brown came in and gave us three innings that were just phenomenal. He walked a couple there late when he got a little bit tired. … He had a really good sharp curve, especially those first two innings, and he looked really good,” Johnson said. “We had to make some adjustments at the plate there late in the game. I didn’t feel comfortable having a two-run lead going into those last couple of innings. They had their two, three, four (batters) coming up, so we decided to start playing some small ball. We got some good bunts down and got guys on.”

Richard McGlone and Chase Hanshaw each had two hits to pace West Carter’s offense. Dalton Thornsberry, Kaden Rose and McGlone each drove in a run.

Six seniors graduated off of Hart’s club. However, five guys who started in the West Carter game will return for the 2017 campaign.

“I can’t wait for it,” Hart said.

Coach Nathan Ryver was also disappointed with how his Fleming County softball team’s season ended. Despite posting a 20-12 overall mark, the Lady Panthers fell in their opening-round regional tournament game for the second straight year.

“We didn’t put together the consistency needed to make that next step. I had no seniors this year, so that may have been apart of the lack of consistency. We expected to make it to at least the semis. It didn’t happen and now we have to get to work,” he said.

“Returning I have the crux of our line up, with Megan Claypoole, Tori Ishmael and Morgan Fern all returning, with Kennedy Perkins,” he continued. “All those girls ended up hitting over .400 for the season. The trick next season will be to string all those hits together to create more runs.”

Both Nicholas County squads won 14 games this spring. However, neither could muster enough offense to extend its postseason.

“My team played with a lot of heart and determination. … We had the game-tying run on base in the seventh inning but couldn’t manage to plate it,” Lady Jacket coach Mike Johnson said.

Nicholas County graduated five seniors. One of those, coach Johnson’s daughter Dani, was named honorable mention All-State.

“That is a huge accomplishment,” coach Johnson added, referring to the all-state honor. “She caught for us this year, which was a brand new position, and performed wonderfully, throwing out several runners on the bases and hitting in the four hole. She finished the year hitting .412 with only 3 strikeouts in 107 plate appearances.”

The 14-19 Lady Jackets also lose pitcher Jonna Watkins, and outfielders Katie Coldiron, Abby Derossett and Mary Kate Tolliver.

“I’m so proud of our seniors. I’ve been around these kids since they played coach-pitch baseball and it’s been a joy to watch them grow and mature,” coach Johnson said. “They will all be successful in life at whatever they choose to be.”

Despite the graduations, Nicholas County looks to again be formidable in 2017.

“Next season we have some extremely talented young players coming back. Sophomore Trina Hughes led the team with a .413 batting average and is already getting some college looks,” coach Johnson said. “Seventh-grader Autumn Adams, eighth-grader Taylor Hunt, eighth-grader Sydni Gifford and sophomore Samantha Sowell will also play a major role in the program going forward.”

The 14-15 Bluejackets returned to the regional tournament after a one-year absence.

“Our season was consumed with injuries throughout the year and we had a lot of guys get good experience. I was pleased with our season, knowing this was a rebuilding year,” Bluejacket head coach Travis Sims said. “It was nice to get back to the region this year. We didn’t really play that well, but give credit to Clark County.

“Andrew Hawkins was my only senior and he had a very nice year offensively and defensively. I will have three seniors next year with a lot of experience coming back from a team that had to play a lot of young guys this past year,” he added.

Sims’ squad figures to continue to see improvement with Trent Letcher, Mercer Wills, Isaac Fryman, Spencer Morris, Kody Campbell and Aschten Saunders among those who are expected to return.

“Nicholas County should have some good baseball to offer the next few years,” Sims continued. “Our guys just have to stay hungry and they have to want to work hard in the off-season to get better.”

Samantha Sowell and Trent Letcher each represented Nicholas County on their respective all-region tournament teams. However, unlike the 10th Region, the 16th Region, which includes Fleming County, did not have an all-tournament team this year.

Pitcher Harrison Fryman (back) cheers on Nick Clark who shows the baseball to the umpire after making a successful tag on West Carter’s Richard McGlone at home plate during the fifth inning of Fleming County’s regional tournament game. Alec Hart threw the ball to Clark from left field. Photo by Brad Laux/1016sports.