LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. —
North Laurel’s 13-0 win over Harlan County was almost perfect. From Kristin Fields’ long home run in the first inning to Megan Baldwin’s one-hit pitching, the Jaguars controlled Wednesday’s semifinal game.
“The defense was solid. Meg pitched well again. It was a good win,” North Laurel coach Rogers Strong said. “Obviously being in the semifinals of the region, it’s a great win.”
Baldwin had a perfect game going until walking the second batter of the fourth inning. Katelyn Stitums fouled off strike after strike from Baldwin to earn the walk. Harlan County’s first hit was a single by Amber Creech to lead off the sixth inning. Baldwin struck out 11 batters.
“She pitched well. She had good velocity, good location. We did a little work on some things and I was real pleased with that,” Strong said.
Any hope the Lady Black Bears had was knocked out of them in the first inning when Fields launched a no-doubt home run. Fields shot followed a single by Kailin Yantz and gave North Laurel a 2-0 lead.
“Kristin got every bit of that pitch and got us off on the right foot,” Strong said.
The Lady Jaguars were not done there. Emily Sears singled and Vanessa Smith reached on an error. Both would score when Farris Strong reached on an error as well.
“We’ve been behind some this year and came from behind, but it’s always good to get off to a good start. It puts a little more pressure on your opponent,” Strong said.
The Lady Jaguars would go scoreless the next two innings with five of the six outs on pop ups.
“We dropped our hands some. We knew she was going to keep it on the outside part of the plate and we talked about staying up, letting it get deep and driving it,” Strong said. “I think we were a little relaxed and sometimes when you are relaxed you tend to drop your hands.”
The Lady Jaguars opened more breathing room with a five-run fourth inning. A pair of Harlan County errors led to runs. Yantz drove in one run with a double. Fields and Strong also had hits in the inning.
After two more quiet innings, North Laurel pushed four runs across in the seventh. Blake Johnson, Fields, and Sears all had RBI singles in the seventh.
mhoward@sentinel-echo.com
Local Sports
Related Photos
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North Laurel’s only senior, Kristin Fields, gets a high five from coach Rogers Strong after blasting a first-inning home run. Kailin Yantz also scored on the homer for a 2-0 lead. North rolled over Harlan County, 13-0. Photo by Mitch Howard
June 1, 2012
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