Jackson Shoulders pitched a complete-game shutout and slammed a two-run home run as Lyon County earned a spot in the All A Classic state tournament in Richmond next weekend.
Shoulders scattered four singles on Saturday as the Lyons turned away Paducah St. Mary 3-0 in sectional action at Jim Boyd Field at Lee S. Jones Park in Eddyville.
Lyon (15-2) will face Hazard (17-3) next Saturday at 11:30 a.m. Central time in a state quarterfinal round matchup at Eastern Kentucky University.
Shoulders and the Lyons got all the offense they would need in the bottom of the first inning against St. Mary.
Brody Williams doubled on a rocket to center with one out. Courtesy runner Peyton Carney then got to trot home when Jackson hit a bomb to centerfield. That quickly made it 2-0.
Lyon added another run on a sacrifice fly to center by John Bingham. That brought in Turner Hurst, who had walked earlier, and staked the Lyons to a 3-0 advantage after just one frame.
That turned out to be more than enough for Shoulders and the Lyon defense.
St. Mary’s best scoring opportunity came in the top of the fourth inning. A single by Landon Durbin and a walk by Avry Duncan put the first two hitters on base and brought the potential tying run to the plate.
But the Viking threat quickly dissipated when Williams, the Lyon catcher, picked the runner off first base for the first out. Shoulders recorded a strikeout on the next pitch for the second out. Two pitches later, Williams threw behind the runner at second and picked him off to end the inning.
Shoulders gave up very little the rest of the way, needing just 83 pitches to blank St. Mary, which had won the 1st Region All A championship Friday night with a 7-6 win over Hickman County.
Leadoff man Cade Fleming had half of St. Mary’s hits, going 2-for-3.
Williams and Austin Spears were each 2-for-3 for the Lyons. Eli Baker added a double.
Brandon Quigley pitched well for St. Mary (10-3). He worked all six innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits. He fanned four and walked just one.
Lyon lost in the first round of the 2nd Region All A Classic last season, but more than made up for that by not only winning the year-end 2nd Region title but going all the way to the semifinals of the KHSAA state tournament in Lexington.
The Lyons got a challenge from Caldwell County in the regional semifinals this year before advancing with a 4-3 victory. Lyon then routed University Heights 16-0 in the 2nd Region All A championship game Tuesday night.
