COLONELS ROLL

 The Whitley County Colonels are off to a 2-0 start after rolling past to 52^nd district teams. The Colonels run-ruled the Bell County Bobcats, 15-4 in the season opener then did the same thing to Harlan High School, Saturday, 12-1.

Senior Matt Sage got the win in both games for the Colonels. Whitley County jumped out to quick leads in both games and never looked back.

Against Harlan Saturday, the Green Dragons scored first when Tyer Grubbs hit a double and scored on an RBI by Ben Cornett.

The Colonels struck for four runs in the bottom of the first then added a solo run in the second for a 5-1 lead. Whitley County added two in the third before breaking the game open in the fourth.

Sage, freshman Alex Rose and junior Shawn Harris combined to shut down the Green Dragons offense. They combined to allow just four hits. Sage pitched three innings, allowing the only run scored off three hits. He had six strikeouts in his time on the mound.

Senior Jeremy Berta led the Colonels offensively with three hits, all singles. Junior Jordan Singleton blasted a home run and had a single while Anthony Greenlee and Sage had two hits each.

The Colonels opened the season with an impressive win over the Bobcats of Bell County. Whitley County eased out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning then went ahead 3-1 before the Bobcats scored three times in the top of the third and took a 4-3 lead in the game.

However, the Colonels scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth then exploded for eight runs in the fifth to end the game.

Shawn Harris and Matt Sage combined for a one-hitter against the Bobcats. Sage led the Colonels with three hits while Jeremy Daniels had two hits in the lopsided win. Catcher Dirk Berta had a three-run homer with the score tied in the top of the fourth inning.

The Colonels are scheduled to play Oneida (TN) at home Thursday then return the trip to the Tennessee school Friday before taking off to Tampa, Florida for Spring Break training.

Whitley Co. 12, Harlan 1

Harlan                        100  00-   1    4  3

Whitley Co.             412  5x- 12  13  0

   Johnson, Grubbs (3) and Hollins. Sage, Rose (4), Harris (5) and Berta. W-Sage, L-Johnson. HR-Singleton (WC).