LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — A first round district tournament win is always nice. A first round shutout win by 16 runs against your district rival is outstanding. That’s exactly what happened at MCHS on Wednesday. The Moore County Raiders delivered the one-two punch of big bats and shut out pitching to earn a 16-0 victory over the Huntland Hornets and advance to a semifinal game against Eagleville on Thursday in Rutherford County.
Peyton Martin led for Moore County – going 3-for-4 at the plate and driving in four runs. Will Parker, Cole Taylor, and Ethan Walls drove in two runs each and Keller Morey and Jace Long both earned one RBI. Hayden Cooper and Blakely Bobo snagged a hit each.
Moore County put up four runs in the first inning to put the Raiders ahead 4-0 and they never looked back. Hayden Cooper got things started with a hard single to center field. While he stood on first base, Keller Morey hit a pop fly and reached base on an error by the Horner shortstop. With runners now on first and second, the Huntland pitcher walked Jace Long to set up Peyton Martin with bases loaded. He doubled on a line drive to center field – scoring Cooper and Morey and advancing Long to third. Cole Taylor then hit a pop fly that contained just enough hang time to allow Long to head towards the plate.
On the next at bat, Blakely Bobo reached first base on a Huntland fielding error that allowed Martin to score. That gave the Raiders an early 4-0 lead.
Enter Keller Morey. He took out three Huntland batters in a row with two strikeouts looking and one strikeout looking. It was a short inning that set the tone for the rest of the game.
Moore County put up one run in the second inning, five in the third inning, and six in the fourth inning while Keller Morey threw a complete game shutout. The southpaw allowed just a single hit over five innings – striking out nine and walking one. His lone blemish happened in the top of the fifth inning when Huntland’s Kerr managed a single. •
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