Central Hardin had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 15 runs), and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They narrowly escaped with a win as the team sidled past the DuPont Manual Crimsons 4-3. This was payback for Central Hardin, who suffered a 15-3 defeat the last time these two teams met.
Sander Lucas made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out nine batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off three hits. Lucas has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in six consecutive pitching appearances. Lucas was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with a double and an RBI.
Lucas wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Lukas Lee, who scored two runs and stole two bases while going 1-for-3.
Central Hardin is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last nine matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 19-9 record this season. As for DuPont Manual, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 13-11.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Central Hardin is on the road again on Monday to play Larue County at 5:30 p.m. Central Hardin is facing Larue County at the right time seeing as Larue County is stuck on a five-game losing streak. As for DuPont Manual, they will head out on the road to square off against Eastern at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. DuPont Manual's pitching crew has only allowed 3.8 runs per game this season, so Eastern's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
