LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — CORBIN—Tory Bowling pitched a gem, and the North Laurel Junior League All-Stars edged host Corbin 6-4 at House Field Monday.

“He was superb on the mound,” North coach Bill Abner said. “He’s always been a good pitcher, but this surpassed anything I could have hoped for.”

Bowling allowed a veteran Corbin team only four hits over 5 1/3 innings, before hitting his pitch count limit.  Braxston Hicks relieved him, and retired all five batters he faced.

“Overall, it was one of the better games any team I have coached, middle school, all-stars, whatever, has put together,” Abner said. “We hit well against a very good pitcher in Cory Ledington, we made every play defensively, and we were smart on the bases.  It was just a complete win.”

North struck first with four in the third, getting a two-run single from Jack Capobianco.  Matthew Brooks’ infield grounder was thrown away, leading to two more runs.

Up 4-2 in the sixth, North got some insurance on a bases-loaded walk by Braden Houston and another single by Capobianco.  Bowling finally got a little tired in the bottom of the inning, but Hicks came in and slammed the door, retiring the heart of the Corbin order in the seventh.

“Braxston was excellent as well,” Abner added. “He wiggled out of a jam there in the sixth, then got their three best hitters to pop out in the seventh.”

Andrew Martin led an 11-hit attack with three hits, while Capobianco, Hicks and Brooks had two each.

“Martin, Capobianco and Brooks are all 13-year-olds out here competing against mostly older guys,” Abner said. “But they get the job done.”

Defensively, Trey Feltner was rock-solid behind the plate, having to handle two pitchers with a lot of movement on the ball, and Ryan Abner provided a highlight reel play by throwing out the speedy Jaxon Stewart from deep centerfield as Stewart tried to stretch a single into a double in the last of the fifth.

“That was a momentum play, because it got our guys really revved up, and we came in and put two runs on the board,” Abner pointed out. “Ryan can be streaky at the plate, but he has always been an awfully good outfielder.”

North is the defending district champ, and was state runner-up a year ago, but Abner said expectations weren’t quite as high for this team coming in. “Several of our more established pitchers either didn’t play or are playing travel ball, which is perfectly fine, but it did leave us without that one dominant guy,” Abner said. “But these kids are baseball players, and this group gets along so well, it has been a blast to coach them.  Hopefully we can get a few more wins.”

North is now scheduled to face Hazard in the winner’s bracket final Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Corbin High School field. “They are the district favorites,” Abner said. “They are nearly all 14-year-olds, and they have played together forever. We’ll have our work cut out for us. But I guarantee you we will show up and compete.”