Cooter blasts Charleston, 15-1

CHARLESTON -- Having an abundance of runs at his disposal, Cooter's Jonathan Boone knew he could feel relaxed on the mound.

Although, the run-support he received would have made any pitcher feel comfortable.

"Having my guys behind me gives you that extra boost that you need to throw strikes and get the job done," said Boone.

The Wildcats burnt the Charleston Bluejays for 13 hits in a 15-1 win on Tuesday afternoon while Boone matched the same dominate performance his offense had with an equally impressive showing on the hill.

Boone went the distance in the mercy rule-shortened, five inning affair giving up Charleston's lone run on four hits and one walk. He threw 77 pitches and struck out eight.

"Mainly I was just trying to throw strikes," Boone said about his strategy. "I tried to get my curveball working to try and mix it up a little bit and get ground balls."

The Wildcats gave Boone the chance to win it early with five runs in the top of the first inning.

One hit, three walks and two errors as Charleston's Ethan Browning was doing the hurling, led to the Bluejay's early demise. Seth Childers got hit by the second pitch of the game which was quickly followed by a triple off the wall in left-center field by Zach Watkins to get things rolling in Cooter's direction.

"Walks, plus hits, plus errors, equal bad news," Charleston head coach Michael Minner said. "We let down after the first inning.

"That's not where we need to be right now."

The Wildcats answered their five-run first inning with a seven-run second inning which was highlighted by a bases clearing triple by Childers.

"We just came out seeing the ball well," said Boone. "We hit it where they needed to be. We broke out at the right time."

Browning was lifted after 1 1/3 innings after giving up 11 runs on six hits and four walks. Justin Hardin pitched the remaining 3 2/3 giving up four runs on seven hits and one walk.

It wouldn't have been noticed at the time, but the Cooter Wildcats (17-6) have had their struggles putting together an entire game of solid hitting like that displayed against the Bluejays.

Sensing the district tournament is near and wanting to repeat the success of last year's fourth place finish in the Class 1 state finals.

"We've been struggling throughout the year getting our bats going," Boone admitted. "But, with it being towards the end of the year we figured out how we have to step up."

Four of the Wildcat's six losses on the year have been one-run games. They also led in all four of those losses as well.

"We're trying to peak," Cooter head coach Allen Crawford said. "We're trying to get ready for districts because we know it's going to be a challenge."

Watkins and Jordan Anderson each had three hits for the Wildcats while Watkins was just a home run shy of the cycle. Boone himself got in on the hitting action with two hits as well, while Logan Edwards and Brandon Bridges added two hits.

"They swing it well," said Minner. "The Boone kid is tough and they're a Class 1 school that gives a lot of teams fits."

As Cooter did their best to gear up for the final push of the season, the Charleston Bluejays (15-7) took a small step back in their loss to the Wildcats.

With four hits between them and four errors on the day, Minner realized things have to change when entering the district tournament.

"That's not how we can look on day one Saturday, I promise you that or the season will be over," Minner said. "We're just looking to get going now. That's not how you want to play in the post-season.

"Luckily, we're still in the regular season."

Cooter 571 02 -- 15 13 1

Charleston 000 10 -- 1 4 4

WP -- Jonathan Boone. LP -- Ethan Browning. Multiple hitters -- (C) Zach Watkins 3-4, Boone 2-4, Logan Edwards 2-3, Jordan Anderson 3-4, Brandon Bridges 2-3. 2B -- Watkins, Boone. (Ch) Trey Watkins. 3B -- (C) Seth Childers, Watkins, Anderson.

Charleston 7, Bernie 6

CHARLESTON -- The Charleston Bluejays hosted the Bernie Mules following their 15-1 loss to the Cooter Wildcats on Tuesday gaining a bit of redemption with a come-from-behind 7-6 win.

Facing a 6-0 deficit after the first two innings, Charleston rallied back with two in the bottom of the second, one in the third and four in the fourth. Marshall Stallings pitched 3 2/3 innings of no-hit ball to close the book on the Mules.

Stallings and Josh Medlock each had two hits for Charleston.