Turned out the Lyon County Lyons had the better pitching in a nail-biting pitcher’s duel Friday afternoon in the Donnie Everett Classic. The Lyons got a combined two-hitter from Brady Belt and Austin Spears as they fought off Gallatin 2-1 at Rossview High School.
Belt managed to work his way out of tough jams in the first and in the fifth, while Spears worked his way out of a pickle in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Lyons won their third straight game.
The game was a scoreless pitchers battle until the top of the fourth inning. With two outs, the Lyons got a walk, a hit batter, and another walk to load the bases. Austin Spears then blooped a single to short rightfield, just out of the reach of the second baseman. Two runs would score on the play and that would be the difference for the Lyons.
A couple of walks from Brady Belt and then a pair of stolen bases gave Gallatin runners at second and third with one out, but Belt was able to escape with a strikeout and a ground out to end the threat.
Gallatin had one of its biggest threats in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, Gallatin got a pair of walks and a single to cut the lead to 2-1 and have runners on second and third. However, Austin Spears came up with a huge strikeout to end the inning and keep the Lyons in front.
Gallaten would get a runner on base in the bottom of the seventh with a hit batter, but Spears slammed the door with a couple of pop-ups to end the game.
Lyon County (7-3) was limited to just three hits. In addition to the game-winner from Spears, Eli Baker and Turner Hurst had the other hits for the Lyons.
Brady Belt picked up the win, going five innings, giving up no runs on one hit, striking out six and walking five. Austin Spears got the save going two innings. He gave up one run on one hit, striking out two and walking two.
