BASEBALL PREVIEW

Alex Rose gets set to throw a pitch in a recent game.

The Whitley County senior signed with Union College Wednesday.

The 50^th District Baseball Tournament will begin at Corbin High School Monday, May 20.

The baseball tournament at Don House Field will get underway with the Williamsburg Yellow Jackets taking on the top-seeded South Laurel Cardinals at 5:30 p.m. The second game will feature the number two-seeded Whitley County Colonels and the Corbin Redhounds at 8 p.m.

South Laurel (19-6) enters as the favorite, but the Cardinals have a 3-3 record in their last six games since April 29 when they lost to the Pulaski County Maroons.

The Cardinals saw a nine-game winning streak snapped with that loss. Since they have beaten Madison Southern (8-2), Bell County (15-1) and Knox Central 1-0, Monday night. They have lost to Southwestern (6-4) and Mercer Co. (7-4).

Seniors Trent Abner, Quinton Barnett, Austin Moore, Matt Slavey and Alex Sears have led the Cardinals throughout the season. Others to watch are sophomore Joe Gaines, sophomore Trey Martin, sophomore Daniel Neal and junior Austin Vigeant. All have made an impact on the Cardinals success.

Williamsburg (12-14) has been a pleasant surprise at times. The Yellow Jackets started the season with nine wins including the 13^th Region All “A” title with a big win over Middlesboro.

But, since Spring Break, the Yellow Jackets have struggled to a 3-14 record.

Seniors Logan Hamblin. Micah Purdie and Jonathan Teague was key to the Yellow Jackets early run.

Williamsburg is a very young team after their three seniors. They have relied on junior Ryan Bowlin, sophomore Michael Rose-Creekmore and Ethan Wilson. Wilson has been a big impact player since coming from Corbin.

Freshmen Dakota Dunn, Jordan Osborne, Alex Patterson, Noah Purdie, Tanner Rains and Justin Solis have played major roles for the Yellow Jackets this season.

The big match-up Monday night will be the Colonels and the Redhounds. Corbin Coach Rob Ledington challenged his team from the get-go and has a 17-14 at this time. The Redhounds have played some of the top teams in the state such as Tates Creek, Danville, South Warren and Somerset along with the region favorites not in the district like Harlan County, Clay County and North Laurel.

Corbin has been unable to get on a win streak. They started the season with four wins and recently won three in a row by beating Jackson County, Knox Central and Bell County.

A talented senior class led by Chad Brown, Keaton Burton, Zack Farley, Jacob Metzger and Derek Terry has led the Redhounds to a winning season.

Juniors Kevin Goins, Taylor Combs, Austin Combs and TC Collins have been the key pitchers on the mound along with Brown, the senior.

A young Whitley County team may be the district and region’s surprise team. The Colonels only have two seniors, but both are very talented. Alex Rose, who will play for Union College next season, has come on strong after an injury and Tilmon Jackson has been steady the entire season and is no doubt the team’s leader.

Coach Kyle Adams has some talented juniors in Corey Crisologo, Cody Lewis and Jordan Crusenberry, but he also relies on several sophomores and freshmen.

The Colonels are two games away from a 20-win season and that is something Adams and his team is looking forward too.

Whitley County has won eight of their last 12 games, but has run into a tough stretch of their schedule and lost four of their last five. They lost to North Laurel (5-1), Rockcastle Co. (5-0), Middlesboro (6-1) and Clay County (7-2). They beat Richmond Model last week, 8-1.

The championship game of the district is scheduled for Tuesday, May 21.