Model victorious; Bat Hounds couldn’t overcome a rough start and cold bats

Paris had their chances but they left 12 runners on base; Will host Bourbon County on Tuesday at Cary Barr Field

 

JARRETT VANMETER l jarrettvanmeter@gmail.com

 

PARIS, KY – An early scoring deficit proved too much for the baseball Hounds to overcome on Friday as Coach Campbell’s group fell to Richmond Model, 4-2, at Cary Barr Field. The win boosted the Patriots’ record to 15-4 for 2024 while the loss dropped Paris to a record of 7-10 leading up to Tuesday’s 40th District bout with cross-town rival Bourbon County.

Of Model’s 14 wins entering Friday’s game, nine of them were by Mercy Rule, and in the top of the first inning the Patriots looked intent on leaving town with another abbreviated win. The first three Model batters walked before Paris Coach Kyle Campbell decided to move starting shortstop Jakari Ransom onto the mound. Each of the next three Model batters was able to bat in one of the runners, but Ransom limited the scoring count in the inning to just the three men who were on base when he took the ball. Paris dug in defensively after that, allowing just one more run for the day in the top of the seventh inning, but Model’s fast start and a tough offensive day for the Hounds proved to be the difference.

“I think we threw maybe one strike to the first three batters, so we just need to do a better job throwing strikes and get off to a better start,” said Campbell following the loss. “The last few games we have gotten off to not so good starts. We’d be down two to nothing, today down three to nothing, and then it’s hard to dig yourself out of a hole early.“

Junior Cameron Mays, the team’s leading hitter, was batted in by senior Luke Berry in the bottom of the first to cut the Model lead to 3-1. The second inning saw junior Karsen Hickerson drive in fellow junior Colson Curtis to bring Paris within a run, 3-2, but several base running errors and batting decisions cost them what could have been difference-making runs. Campbell said there were multiple missed opportunities, throughout the game but particularly in the second inning, for his players to accept getting hit by pitches in order to move runners over.

“We left twelve runners on base today. There were five or six opportunities where we could have just taken it, got hit by it, and that’s five or six runners on base with more opportunities to try to get somebody in,” he said. “In a game like this where you don’t have a pitcher up there throwing 85, 90 [miles per hour], you’ve got to sacrifice your body sometimes. You’re struggling hitting? Okay, sacrifice your body, get on base, and you never know what happens then.”

In the top of the seventh, Model’s junior Beckett Parker-Noblitt ripped a ball down the left field line to drive in junior teammate Isaiah Kirby for a 4-2 lead that would hold as the final score. Following the loss, Coach Campbell credited Ransom with steadying the team and giving Paris a chance after Model’s fast start.

“He did a good job throwing strikes,” said Campbell of Ransom. “He kept runners close. He really kept them off balance. His curveball was on today. We got off to a really bad start and he was able to come in and settle us down, so I couldn’t be more proud of his effort.”

Paris will return to the diamond on Tuesday evening when they play host to Coach Nelson Faris’ Bourbon County Colonels (12-4, 1-1), and their state’s No. 2 ranked pitching staff. The Colonels defeated the Greyhounds back on March 24th at Conrad/Holmes Field, 10-0. During that game, sophomore pitcher JT Ritchie (4 innings & 9 strikeouts) and senior Aiden Earlywine (1 inning & 2 strikeouts) combined to no-hit the Greyhounds over their five innings of work.

“I think we’ve just got to be mentally tough,” said Campbell, looking ahead to Tuesday. “It’s always a hard game when we play Bourbon. They are always ready to go. We usually get off to a good start against them, but we usually have one bad inning that kind of gets us, so we’ve just got to be mentally strong and our pitchers need to throw strikes. Obviously, we can’t make errors. We can’t beat ourselves, and we’ll just see what happens.”

Paris’ last victory over the Colonels came back on March 29th, 2017. Since that defeat, the Colonels have now won 13 in a row over their rival by a combined total score of 165-21.

Game time is set for 5:00 at Cary Barr Field.