Corbin Wins

A bases loaded passed ball proved to be the difference as Corbin eased past Harlan in the 11 year old District Four Tournament at Hazard Sunday night, 2-1.
Until that point, the bottom of the sixth inning, the three Corbin pitchers and James Bond of Harlan had combined for 17 strikeouts and had given up only eight hits.
However, it was the Corbin offense that produced seven of those hits, but had left eight runners stranded.
The teams went into the bottom of the sixth tied at 1-1 and looked like extra innings would be needed. But, Austin Powers hit a high fly that dropped into right field behind the second baseman. Coach Kevin Terry tried to move Powers to second on a pair of bunts by Chad Brown. Brown couldn’t get the bunt down and with an 0-2 count, smacked a single into right field. Hunter Grubb then loaded the bases when he was hit by a pitch.
Bond, who threw an excellent game, struck out Tanner Powers but threw a low ball that got away from the Harlan catcher. Austin Powers took off from third and beat the throw as Corbin celebrated the win.
“He was pretty good,” said Kevin Terry of James Bond, the Harlan pitcher. “He threw strikes. We had a tough time with him.”
“I can’t say enough about Justin (Olsen), Nick (Howington) and Chad (Brown),” added Terry. “They threw strikes and the defense made the plays behind them.”
The three combined to one-hit the Harlan All-Stars. Bond got a one-out double against Olsen in the top of the fourth. However, Nick Howington came on in the top of the fifth and walked the first batter, but got the next three in order.
Brown closed out the sixth inning when he came on and struck out two of three in the top of the sixth.
“We didn’t know what to expect from Harlan,” said Terry. “They played a weak team in the first-game. We thought we would hit the ball better.”
Two players, Nick Howington and Justin Olsen had four of the seven hits for Corbin. “They both hit the ball well.”
Harlan got on the scoreboard first when Olsen got off to a shaky start and walked the first two batters of the day. Dawson Charles and Alex Sergent reached on a walk then a passed ball allowed Charles to take third. Cory Choark hit a grounder to second and Charles scored to put Harlan up 1-0.
In the bottom of the inning Corbin actually got off to a slow start when Derek Terry and Keaton Burton grounded out to start the game for Corbin. A Nick Howington double to centerfield put the first runner on the base. Olsen followed with a double as Howington tied the game at 1-1. Bond struck out Austin Powers to get out of the inning with just one run.
The third hit didn’t come until the bottom of the third when Nick Howington smacked a single to centerfield. He was left stranded when Olsen flew out.
Harlan had a chance to score in the top of the fourth when Bond hit a double to centerfield. He went to second on a sacrifice by Chitwood, but Olsen struck out Overbey to get out of a jam.
Corbin made a run at Harlan in the bottom of the fourth when Austin Powers hit a single past the Harlan shortstop. However, he was out at second when Garrett Anderson grounded into a fielder’s choice.
An interference by Chitwood behind the plate allowed Grubb first base, but Tanner Powers hit a pop out to the shortstop and Chadwell struck out to end the inning.
Both teams had runners in the fifth when Jacob Hampton drew a walk from Nick Howington, the first batter he faced. However, Howington struck out Stephens and got Charles on a fielder’s choice. Sergent ended the inning with a ground out to short.
With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Nick Howington walked. Olsen followed with a hard hit to center field. Terry tried to push the winning run across the plate when he sent Howington around third and to the plate. A perfect throw and the Corbin runner was out.
“I was hoping the throw would be off,” said Terry.
Nonetheless, Corbin came up with the winning run in the bottom of the sixth.
Corbin will take on South London tonight at 8 p.m. in the tournament semifinals.
Keep up with the News Journal website for further details and photos of this week’s action at www.corbinnewsjournal.com.