BEARVILLE — Three Pierce County pitchers combined on a three-hitter with 15 strikeouts as the fourth-ranked Bears knocked off visiting Bacon County 9-2 here Tuesday.
PCHS (2-0) scored all nine runs over a four-inning stretch. The Bears, who managed just three hits, drew 12 walks and had four batters hit by three of the four hurlers for Bacon County (0-1). The Red Raiders’ staff threw just 66 strikes on 142 pitches.
Christian Osbourne worked four innings for Pierce County, allowing a leadoff single in the second inning. He fanned eight and hit two batters.
Garrett Stevenson retired one batter in the fifth. He allowed two hits and was charged with both Red Raider runs. He recorded a strikeout and walked three, throwing 33 pitches in his season debut.
Jonathan Stone, who signed Wednesday, February 4 with Middle Georgia State University, retired six of the eight batters he faced on strikeouts, working 2.2 innings of hitless relief.
Brantley Willis had a single and double in his 2-for-3 performance. Zayden Council had a pinch-hit single in the sixth inning for PCHS’s only other hit.
The Bears struck first in the second inning, scoring on a Willis one-out double. Jack McClellan was hit by a one-0ut, 1-2 pitch and scored from first on the Willis gapper to leftcenter.
PCHS scored five runs on no hits in the third for a 6-0 lead. Chance Williams drew a leadoff walk, stole second, moved over to third on a wild pitch and scored on an ensuing passed ball for a 2-0 advantage.
Dylan Johnson extended the inning, getting drilled by a twoout first pitch. Five consecutive walks followed to McClellan, Willis, Bryson Smith (RBI), Grayson Arington (RBI) and Beck Hodges (RBI) forcing home three runs. Williams was hit by a pitch pushing home the fifth run of the inning, extending the margin to 6-0.
The Bears plated a run in the fourth on Smith’s one-out groundout with the bases loaded, upping the lead to 7-0. Jonathan Stone drew a leadoff walk, Johnson was hit two pitches later and McClellan walked to start the inning.
Bacon County cut into the lead with a two-run fifth getting to within 7-2 against Stevenson (1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 K, 3 BB).
A leadoff walk to Keith Moore was followed by a Ryker Clement (1-for-3) one-out single and a Kayden Tyre walk loading the bases. A walk to Hinson Music plated the first run. Scottland Hennesy (1-for-3) dropped a run-scoring single for the second run, ending Stevenson’s afternoon.
Stone (2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 6 K, 0 BB) came in two squelch the rally getting the final two outs.
PCHS responded with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Hodges, Williams and Osbourne drew consecutive walks, loading the bases. Hodges scored on a passed ball ahead of Stone’s sacrifice fly to righ,t scoring Williams for a 9-2 advantage.
