‘Big for us all year.’ Russell County pitcher stifles Madison Central in state baseball.

Nathan Lawson has been the catalyst for Russell County all season.

He was there for the Lakers once again in the opening round of the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Baseball State Tournament presented by UK HealthCare on Thursday night.

The senior right-hander hurled a complete game, two-hitter and drove in the game’s first run on a double as Russell County knocked off 11th Region champion Madison Central 2-1 at Kentucky Proud Park to advance to the tournament’s quarterfinals.

“Nathan’s been big for us all year,” Russell County coach David Rexroat said. “He’s 9-2. Been beat a couple of times, by Male and Franklin-Simpson. But we knew going in that he’d perform well. We’d just need to play some good defense behind him and give him a few runs. I was hoping for three or four runs, but we’ll take two against Madison Central.

“Anytime you win the Lexington region, you’ve done something. So hats off to Coach (Steve) Roof and Madison Central. They’re an excellent ball club. They hit the ball, they throw strikes, and they’re gonna make the routine plays. We were just fortunate enough to come out ahead.”

The Lakers (29-6), winners of the 4th Region, scored their only two runs in the third inning.

Leadoff hitter Trace Stringer singled up the middle with one out and advanced to second on a fielder’s choice. Lawson swung at the first pitch from Madison Central starting pitcher Bradley Poynter and lined the ball into the right-center field gap to score Stringer. Courtesy runner Alex Reynolds came around to score one batter later when catcher Isaac Roy singled into right field. The throw from Madison Central right-fielder Keith Stewart was up the third-base line, allowing Reynolds to slide around the tag to give the Lakers a 2-0 lead.

Madison Central, representing the 11th Region for the first time since 2018, scored its lone run in the top of the fifth.

Lawson, who had retired nine straight batters, settled into a groove before Madison Central’s catcher Bryson Howell reached second base on a one-out error. Howell hit a high popup into shallow right field that Russell County second baseman Camden Carpenter could not bring in. The Indians made Russell County pay for the mistake when No. 9 hitter Daniel Bauer singled into right field to score courtesy runner John Girard.

Lawson worked out of the inning with a flyout and a strikeout.

Madison Central (28-8) had runners on base via a hit-by-pitch in both the sixth and seventh innings, but the Indians couldn’t find the clutch knock to bring home the tying run.

Lawson, who has committed to play at Eastern Kentucky University, finished the game by allowing two hits, one run, no earned runs and six strikeouts. His complete-game performance came on just 85 pitches.

“I thought we were just going to attack the fastball, and early on we did,” Madison Central Coach Steve Roof said. “The right fielder made a great play on a ball that about went over his head. We put it in play. And he also had some big strikeouts. When you’ve got a guy who’s that good, we knew it was going to be a challenge. Hats off to him.”

Madison Central’s Poynter pitched four innings and allowed seven hits, two earned runs and struck out four Russell County batters.

He was replaced on the mound and moved to first base after allowing a leadoff single by center fielder Mayes Gosser in the fifth inning. Matt Johns entered the game and recorded outs against the first two batters he faced. Russell County shortstop Nick Aaron laced a single down the third-base line that was kept in the infield on a diving stop by Parker Mullins. With runners on first and second, right-fielder Aidan Antle hit a grounder to Poynter that bounced away for an error, but second baseman Eli Metcalfe picked up the ball and fired a dart to home to cut down Gosser and keep the score at 2-1.

Lawson limited the damage and did not allow a runner in scoring position despite putting runners on in each of the final two innings. After hitting Bauer with two outs, Lawson got a groundout from Madison Central leadoff hitter Keith Stewart to end the game.

The Lakers advance to play the Beechwood/Owensboro Catholic winner in the state quarterfinals on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

“We just gotta keep everything rolling,” Rexroat said. “Continue throwing strikes, obviously. Play good defense and get some timely hitting. . . . And we’ve got to sort of eliminate our strikeouts a little bit. We’ve got to shorten our swings. Some of the guys are a little long right now. But overall, pretty happy for them. Hopefully we’ll be ready for the next ball game.”

Beechwood 7, Owensboro Catholic 6 (8)

After relinquishing a four-run lead and seeing the game go into extra innings, Beechwood still found a way.

Third baseman Jackson Roseburrough hit a one-out single into left field to score shortstop Ben Meier in the bottom of the eighth inning and send the Tigers into the quarterfinals of the State Baseball Tournament.

Beechwood, winners of the 4th Region, scored two runs in the first inning, two more in the third and one in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead. But the Aces battled back and tied the game 6-6 in the top of the sixth.

The score remained the same until Roseburrough came through with the clutch knock to earn Beechwood’s 29th victory of the season.

“I knew he was going to throw a fastball,” Roseburrough said. “It was a 3-2 count. I knew he was just trying to throw strikes so I tried to get my barrel on it and it worked out.”

The Tigers will play Russell County, which defeated Madison Central 2-1 in the opening round, at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

“What a game,” Beechwood Coach Kevin Gray said. “That was a really good high school game. Ben Meier had a huge hit leading off the eighth. And then Jackson came through with the winning hit. It’s just always somebody different.”

Beechwood (29-6) was led at the plate by three hits from catcher Brice Estep. Estep drove in two runs in the victory.

Roseburrough, Mitchell Berger, Meier and Tanner Jackson also drove in runs.

Despite the loss, it was a valiant effort by Owensboro Catholic (30-5) to rally back and even the game.

A three-run top of the sixth inning knotted the score 6-6. Beechwood seemed to be in control as relief pitcher Sam Stacy retired the first two batters to start the sixth. But then Owensboro Catholic took advantage of an opening.

Stacy hit Luke Evans with a pitch. Everett Munsey walked, putting two runners on for Luke Scales. Scales drilled a single through the left side to score Evans and make the score 6-4.

Following another hit batsman, catcher Braden Mundy provided a big swing for the Aces and drove in two runs to tie the game 6-6. Beechwood made a pitching change and got out of the inning behind the arm of Torin O’Shea.

O’Shea, the winning pitcher, didn’t give up a hit over 2.1 innings and struck out three batters.

“He came in in a tough spot,” Gray said. “They had the momentum and he got that flyout to centerfield. … He just came in and did his job and did it well. It was a really emotional game, back and forth. I thought it was one of the best high school games I’ve been a part of.”

State tournament

At UK’s Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington

Schedule listed in bracketed order

Thursday

Beechwood 7, Owensboro Catholic 6 (8)

Russell County 2, Madison Central 1

Boyd County 3, Danville 0

Woodford County 12, DeSales 9

Friday

5 p.m.: McCracken Co. (33-6) vs. Hazard (27-9)

8:30 p.m.: Johnson Central (16-21) vs. Campbell Co. (23-10)

10 a.m.: Central Hardin (28-9) vs. Corbin (26-12)

1:30 p.m.: St. Xavier (30-10) vs. Christian Co. (29-7)

Saturday

1:30 p.m.: Beechwood (29-6) vs. Russell Co. (29-6)

10 a.m.: Boyd Co. (26-9) vs. Woodford Co. (25-13)

8:30 p.m.: McCracken Co.-Hazard winner vs. Johnson Central-Campbell Co. winner

5 p.m.: Central Hardin-Corbin winner vs. St. Xavier-Christian Co. winner

June 10

Semifinal games at 12:30 and 6:30 p.m.

June 11

7 p.m.: Championship game

This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 10:49 PM.