WITH 15 HITS, BEARCATS TAKE 3RD PLACE GAME

With five players recording multiple hit games and four having multiple RBIs, the Booneville Bearcats pounded Hackett 13-4 in the third place game of the District 3A-4 Tournament in Cedarville Friday.

Brooks Herrera and Rylen Ray had three hit games and Peyton Tatum, Matt O’Bar and Blazen Jones all had two hits on the day.

Ray, Tatum, and O’Bar accounted for three RBI apiece and Dunn Daniel had two RBI.

Of the 15 Bearcat hits Ray and Jones had doubles and the rest were all singles.

After Ray’s double chased Herrera, who had singled leading off the first, to third, it was a sacrifice fly by Dax Goff that got the first run. Tatum followed with a single to make it 2-0.

Goff (shown, 3-0) allowed a single and a walk to start the Hackett second but struck out the next two with the later becoming a strike-him-out-throw-him-out double play of a would-be base stealer – Ray threw out two trying to steal on the day.

Ray had a two RBI single in the second to double the lead to 4-0 and Tatum singled him home to make it 5-0.

After Hackett scored twice on a passed ball and error on the same play to get within 5-2, the Bearcats (15-5) got those runs back on a run scoring single by Ray and a ground out by Tatum and it was 7-2 thought four.

The teams traded runs again in the fifth with Hackett picking up a run on a wild pitch and O’Bar driving in one for the Bearcats and it was 8-3.

Hackett scored again in the sixth on a ground ball but the Bearcats put it away with a five run bottom of the inning.

Daniel drove in the first two of the inning and O’Bar singled home two more before Herrera drove in a run to make it 13-4.

The bases were loaded after a walk to Ray and Goff drove a ball to the centerfield fence for the final out of the inning forcing a seventh inning.

Jace Washburn relieved Goff, who had thrown 107 pitches while giving up four hits, walking six, and striking out seven.

Washburn pitched around the fifth Bearcat error the day to finish it without further damage.

The Bearcats will next face Bergman at 12:30 Thursday in the Class 3A Region 1 tournament being hosted by Greenland.