Published: May 09, 2008 10:39 am         

Woody, Cards blank Warriors 8-0

South Laurel snaps three-game skid with win over Southwestern

In need of a win to snap a three-game losing streak and gain a little momentum, Coach Wynn Harris handed the ball to Ryan Woody in Tuesday’s game with visiting Southwestern Pulaski.

Woody didn’t disappoint, as the South Laurel pitcher threw a four-hitter in downing the visiting Warriors 8-0.

The win avenged an earlier season 7-1 loss to the Warriors as the Cardinals improved to 17-11 on the season. Southwestern fell to 16-10 in suffering their second straight loss. The Cards also gave Woody some run support, something that had been lacking in his previous two starts.

“When you give Woody a couple of runs, he’s dangerous,” Coach Wynn Harris said. “He competes no matter what the score is.”

Harris also noted the importance of getting a win over a team that beat them 7-1 earlier in the season.

“I think it’s extremely important at this time of year for us to pick up this win,” Coach Wynn Harris said. “We need to gear up for the district tournament. This was a pretty big win.”

The Warriors threatened in the top of the first, as Tyler Mayer and T.T. Wooldridge both reached on singles with one out. But Woody was able to work his way out the jam, getting Isaac Claywell to fly out and striking out Austin Roush.

The Cardinals touched starter Claywell for four runs on five hits in the bottom of the second to take a 4-0 lead. Luke Rakestraw led things off with a double, and after Ryan Reynolds was retired, Michael Hammonds drew a walk. Both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch, then Rakestraw came home on a single by Matthew Gilbert.

Another single off the bat of Matthew Martin drove Hammonds home, then Chris Adams singled in Gilbert and Martin for the 4-0 lead.

South Laurel added two more runs in the fourth as Claywell was lifted for Josh Wilson, who took over on the mound with two runners on base and no outs. He was able to get Southwestern out of the inning without any more damage. Ricky Bowling, who walked to start off the inning, scored on a hard hit single to right by Martin, who later came home on a single by Woody.

Two more South Laurel runs were added to the score in the bottom of the fifth as Gilbert scored on a double by Bowling, who would scored on a Martin single to make it 8-0. Aaron Hampton came in to relieve Wilson in the sixth, while Rakestraw took over for Woody in the top of the seventh, and retired the Warriors in order.

“We’ve been missing those timely hits, but we got them tonight,” Harris said. “We’ve been coming up with multiple runners on base and trying to hit balls into the gap, which is something we didn’t necessarily needed to do. We just needed to make solid contact, which we did tonight.”

The Cardinals will travel to face Knox Central tonight.



South Laurel 8, Southwestern 0

Southwestern 000 000 0—0 4 0

South Laurel 040 220 x—8 12 0