During the course of approximately four hours, the Todd County Central baseball team registered its fourth shutout win and was dealt just its second loss in seven games, as the Rebels played a pair on a neutral field.
Todd Central bounced back from a 4-1 loss to Marshall County earlier in the day by blanking Marion County 10-0 in a unique doubleheader that featured different opponents during a round-robin event at Allen County-Scottsville.
In the 10-run rout, the Rebels got RBIs from seven different players and were led overall by three hits and two runs from sophomore cleanup hitter Preston Rager. Jameson Hunt went 2-for-5 and also scored two runs as a primary offensive contributor in the decisive victory.
Hunt set the tone for Todd, singling to start the game and eventually scoring on a two-out wild pitch. Benefitting from five walked batters in the third inning, the Rebels took a 4-0 lead after Marion County freshman Brady Hutchins had trouble with his command.
TCCHS then scored once in the fifth, again in the sixth and exploded for its last four runs in the final frame, sparked primarily by RBI singles from Hunt and Rager.
Jacob Brandon (1-1) was near-perfect on the mound in earning his first win of the year. The Todd Central sophomore allowed just two hits, walked none and struck out six in six innings. Brandon now owns the team lead for strikeouts (18) in 2021.
Tanner Farmer, who appeared in both games Friday, worked a pair of scoreless innings in relief to close out the win. In its shutout victories this season, the Rebels are outscoring their opponents 49-0.
In Todd’s 4-1 defeat, the opposing Marshals used a balanced attack and a dominant effort from starting pitcher Evan Oakley (2-0), who fanned 16 batters in his seven-inning, complete-game win.
Playing just their second game of the season, Marshall County got an RBI double from Brady Ives in the bottom of the first inning and never trailed the rest of the way.
MCHS (3-0) then struck for a trio of runs in the fourth inning, taking advantage of a key two-run Rebel error off the bat of Conner Mannon. Todd County Central attempted to rally in the sixth after Grady Reding was hit by a pitch to lead off the top half of the frame.
Reding later scored on a two-out single from Farmer, but TCCHS stranded a pair when Oakley got Nate Reding to strike out swinging, ending the final threat of the contest.
The Rebels were led by Farmer (1-for-3, RBI) and Brandon (1-for-2, walk) in the loss. Kalan Whiteside went 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI in the win. No Marshall County player had more than one hit, and Ives’ double was the lone extra-base knock of the afternoon.
Rager (0-1) got his first decision of the season in defeat. He managed to strike out five but walked two, scattered four hits, and allowed four runs (two earned) in four innings of work. Farmer pitched two scoreless innings out of the bullpen to keep the Marshals at bay.
Todd County Central (5-2) will stay at Allen County-Scottsville to play the host Patriots (1-4) on April 10.
