Now that is what you call finishing out the game strong. The Hopkins County Central Storm scored 15 runs over the final two at-bats to roll past the Russellville Panthers 17-2 Thursday evening in Mortons Gap.
Jak Mitchell had a huge night for the Storm at the plate with three hits and 6 RBIs to lead the way in the win.
Russellville, which shut down its baseball program last season due to a lack of numbers, took the early 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an infield error by the Storm.
Central responded with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning on Jak Mitchell’s first hit of the night, a 2 RBI single to right that gave the Storm a 2-1 lead.
Russellville evened things up in the top of the third on an RBI double. Then the bottom fell out for the Panthers.
Five Panther walks opened the door for the Storm to score 9 runs in the bottom of the third to take an 11-2 lead.
Central then closed out the game on the 15-run rule by scoring six more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Pitching struggles continued to plague the Panthers in the inning as they gave up four more walks and a hit batter in the inning.
In addition to Jak Mitchell’s big night for Hopkins County Central, Neilan Bruce ended up 3-4 with a double, two RBIs, and three runs scored. Keegan Allen was 2-4 with a double and an RBI.
The Storm took full advantage of 12 walks from Russellville Pitching and one hit batter.
Keegan Allen went all four innings to get the win for Hopkins County Central (1-1). He gave up two runs, one of them earned, on just two hits, striking out seven and walking two.
