Published: May 09, 2008 01:41 pm         

Vikings win 5th in a row

The Rowan County Senior High School Baseball team is heating up the season and is now on a five-game win streak. Johnson Central High School came to town Monday night and left with a 12-7 spanking from the Vikings. The next night, Head Coach Steve Walters & Co. traveled to Frenchburg and scored two wins at Menifee County.

Against the Eagles on Monday, the Rowan defense started strong in the top of the first by holding a hit to left field at a single and following it with a sharp double play. Although pitcher Blake Pettit walked two Eagles, a fly ball to center field retired the side and sent the Vikings to the plate.

Rowan County’s Kyle Bradley, the designated hitter, brought Nick Duff and Skyler Adams in on a double in the bottom of the first for the 2-0 lead.

Pettit threw two strikeouts but allowed two hits in the top of the second. Another Eagle groundout to first and the Vikings returned to the plate

A home run by Eagle batter Mike Conley kicked off the third inning. The Vikings stopped only one of the next three at-bats and the visitors’ Tyler Isaac walked to load the bases. A 2-run single by D.J. tied the contest at 3-3, but then Cody Parker grounded out to Viking third baseman Skyler Adams to halt the rally.

The Viking looked low in the bottom of the third after a strikeout and both Duff and Adams couldn’t board safely. However, the hosts rallied with sharp defense in the top of the fourth with hot-mitt grabs by Derek Stafford and Nick Duff, and Pettit fanned the third out.

Bradley and Laken Johnson each singled to start the last-half of the fourth. Stafford grounded out to the short stop but the driving Viking offense continued as Patrick singled in Bradley and courtesy runner T.J. Chin as Walters’ bunch re-took the lead, 5-3. Caudill’s bunt backfired, but did advance Patrick to second. Nathan Miles then sent the RBI-single through the Eagle defense, and managed to steal second and third before a pop out to third base by Broughtman ended the inning.

Rowan’s 6-3 lead in the top of the fifth was threatened when, with two runners on, a line drive down the third-base line brought Adams to his knees. But the hit was called foul and didn’t help advance the Eagle offense. Two walks brought a run in, keeping the bases loaded and a double by Tyler Grimm brought in two RBI’s for yet another tie, 6-6.

Duff and Adams led with singles in the bottom of the fifth but a squeeze by Chin turned into a fielder’s choice for the out at first. Two singles, one each by Johnson and Patrick, brought in two RBI’s to flip the lead back to Rowan, 8-6.

Miles took the mound in the top of the sixth in relief for Pettit, getting the first two he faced to ground out before sitting the third down on strikes.

“Pettit and Miles both threw a good game,” J.D. Patrick told The Morehead News after the win. “We were better as a team and personally I felt like I played better today, too.”

For insurance runs, Adams and Bradley each drove in two RBI’s in the bottom of the sixth to stretch the lead, 12-6. Another home run by the Eagles wasn’t enough to close the gap in the top of the seventh and the game ended with a 12-7 win for the Vikings.

Coach Walters said the Viking turn around began with a well-played loss to Woodford last week.

“We had a mental obstacle this season,” Walter said. “But with Woodford, Clark, East Carter, and Johnson Central, they’re all quality teams. The past four games have shown us we are a capable team. This team can’t be taken for granted.”

That streak continued with twin wins in Frenchburg 24 hours after the win over Johnson Central. In the pair of lopsided victories (16-2, 14-1), the Vikings belted five home runs and improved to 8-12 on the season… following that 3-12 start!

Laken Johnson and Derek Stafford took the victories from the mound, each pitching the five-inning complete contests.

“I just kept throwing strikes,” Johnson said. “My curve ball was working pretty well in the first part of the game. I need top work on control and hit certain spots. A big thing is cutting down on the walks.

Stafford said the locals expected to do well against the Wildcats.

“It went smoothly on the mound. I felt like the breaking ball was getting to them and I was just trying to throw strikes,” he said. “We were expecting the win against Menifee. We hadn’t played them yet this season, but their reputation precedes them.”

Patrick and Duff each sent two shots out of the park in Frenchburg and Brockman also had a home run.

“We really did hit the ball so far this week. I just felt better at the plate after the Johnson Central game,” Patrick said. “That was a good win and we needed to keep it rolling

The five wins in a row have certainly ignited the confidence in the Viking players. But this effort is not a surprise to the Rowan County coaching staff; the coaches have said all season they knew this type of play was ready to bust through.

“We came out on Wednesday and did what we were supposed to do,” Walters said. “We executed the plays and kept errors to a minimum. Our pitchers were solid on the mound and threw strikes for the most part. That’s what you want to do, throw strikes and let your defense work for you.”

Look for more on Rowan County baseball, including updates on the JV Vikings, in next week’s sports sections.