PREP BASEBALL: Panthers upend Bruins (05/02)

By GREG CREWS

Neal Cardin

Elizabethtown pitcher Sean Bouthilette delivers to Central Hardin lead off batter Chris Nichols on Thursday at Panther Baseball Park.

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Neal Cardin

Elizabethown's Carter Elmore dives back to first base as Central Hardin first baseman Austin Todd waits for the throw Thursday at Panther Baseball Park.

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Neal Cardin

Elizabethtown's Joe Raub safely reaches second in front of the tag of Central Hardin's Erik Stein.

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gcrews@thenewsenterprise.com ELIZABETHTOWN — What a difference two weeks can make. After being dealt a 9-0 shutout by the Central Hardin Bruins on April 15, the Elizabethtown Panthers put on a slightly different show Thursday at Panther Baseball Park as they handily defeated the Bruins, 8-3. “It’s a great turnaround,” Elizabethtown junior second baseman Zach Riney said. “They are a good team and all, but that last game didn’t show our capabilities.” Central Hardin (14-8, 6-1 district) could have clinched the top seed in the 17th District Tournament with a win, but instead it is Elizabethtown (17-7, 4-1) which is in the driver’s seat for the No. 1 seed. To earn that spot, the Panthers will have to win their last three district games — against Fort Knox, John Hardin and North Hardin — or win 2-of-3 if Central Hardin falls in its final district game against John Hardin. “This is a big win for us, definitely,” Elizabethtown sophomore designated hitter Jake Goodman said. “I think we came ready to play. Just the way that we were hitting in the cages and the way that we were taking ground ball, I could tell that our focus was there, and I felt really good about it all day.” Goodman backed up that hunch with his play at the plate, driving in three runs and notching his second triple in as many games. “He might not be the guy that you would expect to get a lot (of triples) because he is not blessed with the best speed in the world, but he has come up with big hits all season long,” Elizabethtown coach Don Pitts said. “He’s starting to turn on the ball. Now when people pitch him inside he is able to turn on the ball and drive it to right-center field.” The Elizabethtown offense, which managed only two hits in its prior meeting with the Bruins, belted seven hits this time around, while Central Hardin made five errors to help the Panthers’ cause. Four of those errors came in the first two innings as Elizabethtown jumped out to a 4-0 lead, with three runs being unearned. “We made a few mental mistakes and we made a few physical mistakes and we ended up with five errors and you just can’t to that against a good club. You can’t give them extra outs to work with,” Central Hardin coach Todd Thompson said. “Getting down 4-0 against a pitcher like Sean (Bouthilette) is pretty hard to overcome.” Indeed, after getting an early cushion, Bouthilette took care of the rest. The senior allowed only one earned run and six hits while striking out three and improving his record to 5-1 on the season. “That was probably the best I have seen him pitch this season,” said Riney, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI. “Talking to him today at school, he was like, ‘I’m going the whole game.’ In my mind I was thinking I know the way his arm has been feeling, but then he came out there and pitches like that. It was great.”  Bouthilette was just shy of his goal of a complete game, going 6 2/3 innings before freshman Carter Elmore came in with the bases loaded and struck out the final batter to record his third save of the season. Junior Cody Alvey took the loss for Central Hardin despite allowing only four earned runs, while striking out two in a complete-game effort. “(Cody) pitched well enough to get the win. The defense behind him just didn’t come through,” Thompson said. “With that many errors, it makes it hard for a team to overcome. It makes it hard for a pitcher to overcome.” Bouthilette led off in the bottom of the first and reached base on an error before stealing second, advancing to third on a ground out and coming home on a single by junior shortstop Chase Greenwell, who was eventually driven home by Goodman to give Elizabethtown a 2-0 lead. Elmore scored on a throwing error in the second to extend the Panthers’ lead to 3-0, before junior left fielder Chris Gohman, who reached base on an error, was driven home on a single by Riney. In the third inning, senior second baseman Erik Stein recorded the Bruins’ first run as he reached base on an infield single before being driven home on a ground out by senior first baseman Austin Todd. Riney picked up his second hit of the game as he led off the bottom of the fifth, followed by Greenwell, who walked on four pitches. After both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by junior catcher Micheal Thomas, Goodman hit a triple to right-center field to plate both runs. Goodman came home on the following at-bat, when freshman center fielder Beau Bouthilette grounded out to the infield to extend the Panthers’ lead to 7-1. With the bases loaded in the sixth, the Panthers had a run walked in to go up 8-1. Central Hardin senior designated hitter Joe Nash reached base on an error in the top of the seventh and was brought home one batter later when freshman catcher Russ Morse doubled to the left-center field gap. Morse was eventually walked home to shrink the gap to 8-3 before Elmore came in to record the final out.  ELIZABETHTOWN 8, CENTRAL HARDIN 3                                                 R H E Central Hardin          001   000 2 3 6 5 Elizabethtown           220   031 X 8 7 4 Cody Alvey and Russ Morse. Sean Bouthilette, Carter Elmore (7) and Micheal Thomas. WP: Bouthilette (5-1). LP: Alvey (4-3). S: Elmore (3). 2B: Sean Bouthilette (E), Russ Morse (CH). 3B: Jake Goodman (E). UP NEXT: Central Hardin plays host to Lexington Catholic at 6:30 p.m. today. Elizabethtown plays host to Campbellsville at 11 a.m. Saturday. Greg Crews can be reached at 505-1757