Kennett takes down Portageville

KENNETT -- Behind the clutch pitching of junior Ryne Branum, the Kennett Indians picked up their first Bootheel Conference victory off the season Friday afternoon against the Portageville Bulldogs at Indian Park.

Ryne Branum owned the Bulldogs with his breaking ball as the Indians downed the Bulldogs 8-1 to improve to 4-7 on the season.

Branum tossed a complete game, limiting Portageville hitters to one run and four hits while reaching the double-digit plateau with 10 strikeouts.

Andrew Deere took the loss for the Bulldogs by allowing five runs in 4 2/3 innings of work.

The Indians were the visiting team since the game was scheduled to be play in Portageville and Kennett was able to cross the plate first in the second inning. Leftfielder Chase Smith doubled to center to start the inning and eventually rounded the bases on an error by Deere.

Cody Dawson had laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt that placed Smith in scoring position. Smith went 2-for-3 on the day and scored two runs to assist the Indians.

Ben Foster continued the Indians hot hitting to lead off the third by lacing a double over the head of Portageville centerfielder Jordan Robbins.

After following behind in the count, Ryne Branum then helped his own cause as he received a handing breaking ball and doubled home Foster. Branum was officially 2-for-3 with two runners driven in.

The key difference in the contest was that the heart of the Bulldogs' lineup was a combined 0-for-11. Ryne Branum retired the side in order in the second and fourth innings, which set up Kennett's three-run fifth.

Josh Lancaster fought off a couple of two-strike pitches and came through with a single to left field to start the fifth inning. Lancaster stole second base and later was plated on a single to centerfield off the bat of Ryne Branum.

Ryne Branum moved to third base on a wild pitch and scored on the next pitch after Jared Hughes grounded out to second base. Paul Harris came up and furnished a homerun that cleared the left field fence to cap off the scoring in the inning.

C.J. Medley came on for the Bulldogs in relief and surrendered three runs in the sixth. Medley struckout Ben Foster with some high heat to start the inning, but then the floodgates opened.

Ryne Branum reached on an error by Medley, and pinch runner Mario McGraw later scored on a single by Hughes on an interesting development at home plate.

McGraw apparently missed the plate and had to return as he avoided the tap of Medley in the process. Smith and Cody Dawson followed with hits that resulted in runs to conclude the inning.

Kennett head coach Bart McAtee credited Lancaster and Ryne Branum on the Indians' pitch-catch combination.

"We played better today," McAtee said. "We flipped some guys around, and I thought Josh (Lancaster) did a good job catching. Ryne (Branum) did a really good job pitching, and our defense played better. Overall, I thought we played pretty well and hit the ball pretty well, especially toward the end of the game."

The Indians have to continue playing good defense behind their starting pitching.

"Portageville has a got a good team and we jumped on them early," McAtee said. "There at the end, we finished it off but we have got to continue to play like that. Our conference this year is pretty tough and everybody is pretty even so we have to come ready to play every day."

The Indians will have an interesting week as they face the South Pemiscot Bulldogs and the Senath-Hornersville Lions in Bootheel Conference action.

With two victories, Kennett would finish the season 3-3 in the conference.

South Pemiscot is currently unbeaten in conference action and is extremely difficult to defeat in Steele.