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Mineer's pitching, Soister's hitting lead Panthers to 7-2 win over Menifee County
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By CHUCK HAMILTON Sports Writer
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FLEMINGSBURG -- Fleming County sophomore right-hander Heath Mineer overcame a rocky start and finished the game with a flurry, setting down 15 consecutive Menifee County hitters on his way to a complete game, 7-2 win at Panther Field on Monday.
Mineer was in complete command after the Wildcats scored a run in each of the first two innings, striking out 12, and allowing only two walks.
"Heath started slow and wasn't loose the first couple of innings," said Fleming County coach Brad Price. "He got loose before the game and then had to wait for the Menifee bus to get here and he had to get loose all over again. Once he settled down, he pitched a great game."
Following a game-opening walk to Zach Stull, Mineer allowed a run-scoring double to deep right field from Larry Workman. In the second inning, base hits from Ryan Vanderpool and Chris McDougal and a forceout scored what would be the last Wildcats run.
After Fleming's only error of the game began the third inning, Mineer retired the final 15 batters he faced, striking out eight of those on his way to lifting his record to 3-0.
The Panthers answered with a pair of runs in their half of the first inning to take a brief lead. Joe Hunt and Andrew Earlywine both drew bases on balls from Menifee County southpaw Blake Greene and both would score. Hunt came in on a sacrifice fly from Daniel Harmon and Earlywine was plated on a groundout by Chris Smoot.
Fleming County, which evened its season mark to 10-10, reclaimed the lead in the second inning on a walk to Matthew Jolly, a double that bounced off the left field fence from Eric Soister, and a groundout by Mineer.
Following a couple of scoreless innings from the home team, Soister lifted the Panthers into a commanding lead with a two-run home run over the left field fence in the fifth.
The long fly off the bat of the senior designated hitter came after Harmon, who led off the inning with a single, scored on a pinch-hit single from Steven Mitchell.
"Eric's been struggling at the plate and hopefully he came out of it today," said Price. "Mitchell came in ready and we got what we needed out of him. We've been having trouble getting the kids ready to play at the beginning of games, and for us to win the district, we have got to start hitting the ball and come ready to play."
The Panthers tacked on an insurance run in the sixth inning on an error by the Menifee first baseman, bringing in David Hunt, who was pinch running for Zach McRoberts, who led off the frame with a bloop single to right field.
Fleming County travels to West Liberty to meet Morgan County today before returning home to face St. Patrick on Wednesday.
Menifee Co. 110 000 0 --2 5 3
Fleming Co. 210 031 X --7 5 1
WP -- Mineer. LP -- Greene. Hitting leaders: MC -- (Workman 2-4, 2B, RBI; Vanderpool 1-3, R; Howard RBI.) FC -- (Harmon 1-3, R, RBI; Smoot RBI; Mitchell 1-1, R, RBI; Soister 2-2, R, 2B, HR, 2RBI; Mineer RBI; McRoberts 1-2, R.) Records: Menifee County 2-11, Fleming County 10-10. |
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