Seth Burris led Carroll County at the plate and on the mound March 20 in a 5-1 nondistrict victory over Floyd County at Bill Worrell Field.
Burris was sensational on the hill, allowing just two hits, one walk and no runs in five innings to earn the victory. After walking the game’s leadoff batter, Dustin Faulkner, Burris retired the next 10 hitters he faced before giving up back-to-back one-out singles in the fourth inning. He coaxed Matt Bary into a popup to catcher Reece Edwards and got Gus Underwood to ground out to end the threat before setting the down the side in the fifth.
“Seth pitched a great game for us. He consistently found the strike zone, getting first-strike pitches on 12 of the batters he faced,” Carroll County head coach Joe Tompkins said. “He threw strikes and kept Floyd’s hitters off balance, which is what you have to do to win.”
Burris also came up big at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a double and a run scored. After blooping a one-out single to right in the second inning, Carroll County (2-0) went up 2-0 as courtesy runner Bronson Bowman scored after Nathan Snow singled and advanced on an error. Burris also singled in the fourth, the only inning the Cavaliers did not score, and belted a leadoff double in the sixth. Burris came around to score moments later after Blake Wood slapped an RBI double to right for a 5-1 advantage.
Floyd threatened in the top of the sixth as Faulkner and Travis Cox strung back-to-back singles together to open the frame. Brandon Gearhart reached on a fielder’s choice, and an error allowed Faulkner to score, giving the Buffaloes runners on second and third with nobody out, and the Cavalier lead cut to 4-1.
With the tying run at the plate, Carroll came up with a huge defensive play. Shortshop Ryan Gravley snagged a line drive off the bat of Vinny Kuckenbuch for one out and flipped the ball over to second base to double up Gearhart before he could get back to the bag. Relief pitcher Josh Underwood then got Bary to pop out to Gravley in shallow left field to end the threat.
After walking the leadoff batter in the seventh, Edwards retired the next three batters to secure the win for the Cavaliers.
“The double play in the sixth inning was a huge momentum swing for us. Ryan made a heck of a play on the ball and everybody was in the right position to turn two,” Tompkins said. “We didn’t execute as well as I would have liked a couple of times on rundown plays, but other than that I thought we played pretty well.”
Carroll County struck first in the opening inning as Edwards reached on an error, stole second, and later scored on another error. The Cavs made it 3-0 in the third after Edwards doubled and scored on Josh Underwood’s RBI single to center. In the fifth, Gravley led off with an infield single and moved to second when Edwards reached on an error. He took third on Underwood’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Bronson Bowman’s run-scoring single to center.
Burris went 3-for-3 for the Cavs, while Edwards, Bowman, Nathan Snow, Wood, Gravley and Underwood each contributed a hit. Edwards scored twice for Carroll.
Floyd 000 001 0 - 1 4 4
Carroll 111 011 x - 5 9 1
Lewis, Cox (5) and Kuckenbuch (FC); Burris, Underwood (6), Edwards (7) and Edwards, Underwood (7) (CC). WP – Burris. LP – Lewis. 2B – Edwards, Burris, Wood (CC).
Post a Comment
