The Warren County Middle School baseball team kept its undefeated streak alive after a 10-0 win Thursday night against the DeKalb West Bulldogs powered by a no-hitter by Jack Keele.
On Friday, the Pioneers extended their winning streak to seven games after a close 3-2 victory over the Franklin South Middle School Trojans at Pioneer Park.
The Pioneers did just enough to get the win. WCMS was led by a steady performance at the plate by Will Rivers, who went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Jack Keele earned the win on the mound in relief, going 1-1/3 innings, allowing no hits and striking out three Trojans.
The Trojans scored on an error by the Pioneers in the top of the first to take the lead, 1-0. The Pioneers answered in the bottom of the inning by scoring a run of their own off an RBI single from Rylan Holder, scoring Rivers, to tie the game 1-1 heading into the second.
Franklin South went down in order to start the second, and the Pioneers didn’t take advantage in the bottom half of the inning. The score remained tied.
Neither team found a hit in the fourth inning, as both teams’ bats went cold. It was more of the same for the Trojans in the top of the fifth, as Kason Holder was dealing on the mound, after a shaky start to the game. The Pioneers gained the lead in the bottom of the inning, courtesy of a Jacob Lann sacrifice fly to score Trace Adcock. The Pioneers finally had the lead for the first time in the game, heading into the sixth.
Franklin North added a run in the top of the sixth to tie the game 2-2. Keele entered in relief of Kason Holder, who struck out six Trojans in 5-2/3 innings pitched. The Pioneers needed some answers going into the bottom of the inning, but the bats went cold again, as the Pioneers went down in order. Going into the final inning, the Pioneers had one more chance to keep their winning streak alive or head to extra innings.
Keele struck the Trojans out in order to begin the seventh, and now was the time for the Pioneers to win it.
Adcock was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the seventh, and after two walks by the Trojans, Adcock scored on a passed ball to win the ball game for the Pioneers, and keep the streak alive.
The Pioneers will look to extend the streak to eight wins in a row when they return to action March 28 on the road against the Tullahoma Wildcats. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.