Evan Lear admittedly had not been sharp in his first two starts for Madisonville-North Hopkins this season, but the third time was the charm for the junior hurler on Thursday.
Lear pitched a six-inning no-hitter as Madisonville took down cross-county rival Hopkins County Central 10-0 at Elmer Kelley Stadium.
The right-hander had walked nine and struck out nine in his first two starts, but struck out eight Storm batters. He faced just 23 batters, and while he did issue six walks, none of them came around to score.
The Maroon bats gave Lear all the support he needed with a five-run first inning. Matthew Yates doubled home a run, and Lear helped his cause with a two-run single. A Storm error on a ground ball allowed two more runs to cross the plate.
A bunt, an error, and a ground out plated two more runs in the fourth inning.
Hopkins Central put runners at second and third in the sixth inning, but Lear got a strikeout to end the threat.
Madisonville loaded the bases in the home half of the sixth inning. A passed ball scored Ryder Sandridge, and Alex Richards doubled to straight away centerfield to score Brantley Harris.
The Maroons managed six hits with Yates doubling, singling, and scoring twice. Sandridge reached base three times and scored three times. Lane Faulk reached base four times without making contact. He was hit by a pitch three times and walked once.
Eli Earl took the loss for Hopkins County Central. He allowed four earned runs in four innings.
For Hopkins County Central (2-8, 0-3), Thursday was its first game in nine days due to spring break and last week’s flooding issues that limited practice time.
Madisonville improved to 5-6 with Thursday’s game its district opener.
The teams will meet again Saturday afternoon at 4:00 in Mortons Gap in a contest rescheduled from earlier in the week.
Before then, Madisonville will host Fort Campbell on Friday, and Hopkins County Central will travel to Grayson County.
