PREP BASEBALL: E'town tops LaRue in region semifinals (5/28)

By CHUCK JONES cjones@thenewsenterprise.com LEBANON — The heart of the Elizabethtown lineup pumped life into the Panthers and helped them reach a second consecutive 5th Region Tournament championship game. Juniors Zach Riney and Chase Greenwell and sophomore Jake Goodman, Elizabethtown’s two, three and four hitters, each collected two hits and drove in a run to lift the Panthers to a 5-1 victory over the LaRue County Hawks in the region semifinals at Marion County High School’s Dave Hourigan Field on Tuesday evening. “Right now is the time to start hitting,” Riney said. “We’re the heart of the order and we’re the ones that are supposed to get things started. We’re the ones that are supposed to get runs on the board. We did that tonight.” The trio accounted for six of Elizabethtown’s seven hits. Riney and Greenwell each had a double, while Riney scored two runs. “We just feel like, or I feel like anyone in our lineup could hit two, three or four,” Goodman said. “We all can just hit. This is a big confidence booster. We set the tone for rest of the team.” Elizabethtown (28-9) moves into the championship game for the third time in four years. The Panthers meet Central Hardin (21-9) tonight at 7 at Marion County High School. The two teams met in last year’s region final with Elizabethtown winning, 11-1. The Panthers got off to a shaky start defensively, committing two errors in the first inning, which led to a run. Coach Don Pitts said he was proud of how his team responded after the rough start. “We made those two errors, and like positives, negatives can be contagious,” Pitts said. “Giving up just one run was the key. That stopped their momentum. And then to come back in and get two, that’s big.” It was huge for senior Ryan Lutz, who picked up the win. The right-hander scattered five hits and four walks, while striking three in five innings. He worked out of several jams, inducing two double plays to end innings. Junior Chris Gohman earned the save, tossing the final two innings. “I was kind of nervous at first, but once I got a feel for the mound and the umpire, I got in the groove,” Lutz said. “It helps so much when you get two runs like that, knowing you don’t have to pitch a shutout every inning. You can relax and you can get comfortable.” LaRue County senior Aaron Mayfield took the loss. He gave up seven hits, one walk and four runs. Mayfield struck out five in five innings. The Hawks had their chances, leaving seven runners stranded – six in scoring position – and had another runner thrown out at home by Elizabethtown senior Sean Bouthilette. “We had a lot of chances,” LaRue County coach Chris Price said. “We did a good job of getting people into scoring position, but we never could get that big hit to get runs across. You have to give a lot of credit to E’town.” LaRue County took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Senior Curtis Cox singled and took second on an error in the outfield. Junior Christian Seymour reached on a bunt single, moving Cox to third. Cox ended up scoring on a throwing error. Elizabethtown answered in the bottom half of the inning with two runs of its own. Bouthilette walked, stole second and came in on Riney’s ground-rule double to right. After a groundout, Goodman produced a run-scoring single. “We made those two errors and we didn’t help Ryan out at all,” Riney said. “We wanted to come in and get something going so it wouldn’t be on his mind. We did a good job of getting him some insurance runs. He pitched a great game.” The Panthers added a run in the fifth to build a 3-1 lead. After senior catcher Ethan Whitlock picked off Bouthilette, Riney singled to left, stole second and moved to third on an error on the steal attempt. Greenwell smacked a double to right-center gap to plate Riney. Elizabethtown tacked on two insurance runs in the sixth. Lutz scored on a balk and Gohman produced a sacrifice fly to plate sophomore Joe Raub, who was running for catcher Micheal Thomas. LaRue County finished the season 27-7, which included another 18th District championship. The Hawks have eight seniors – Keaton Gardner, Shawn Seymour, Alan Vass, Nick Williams, Ethan Whitlock, Evan Webb, Cox and Mayfield. “It was a great season,” Price said. “This has been the most enjoyable year I’ve had as a coach. I could see a couple of them being coaches. They knew the game well and they came to practice every day with a great attitude. I cherished this year so much because they were such a great group to coach.” elizabethtown 5, Larue County 1                                                 R H E LaRue County          100   000 0 1 5 1 Elizabethtown           200   012   x 5 7 3 Aaron Mayfield, Keaton Gardner (6) and Ethan Whitlock. Ryan Lutz, Chris Gohman (6) and Micheal Thomas. WP: Lutz. LP: Mayfield. Save: Gohman. 2B: Evan Webb (LC), Zach Riney (E), Chase Greenwell (E). Chuck Jones can be reached at 505-1759

Jeff Moreland

Elizabethtown shortstop Chase Greenwell, right, goes deep into left field, narrowly avoiding a collision with left fielder Carter Elmore, to haul in a pop fly in the top of the firth inning against LaRue County in the 5th Region Tournament semifinals at M

Buy this photo