Greyhounds eliminated from post season play but not without a valiant effort

 

JARETT VAN METER I jarrettvanmeter@gmail

 

PARIS, KY – 6-0, Paris. That is how the scoreboard read in the middle of the first inning of Monday’s semifinal district tournament matchup between the Greyhounds and George Rogers Clark. Seated in the home cheering section of the Bourbon County diamond that’s known as Conrad/Holmes Field, the Cardinals fans were stunned. In the visitors’ section, the Paris fans were frenzied. Following the shocking offensive onslaught in the first frame, it looked like the improbable might occur.

But they say that time will tell, and so it did: GRC is the top seed for a reason.

The top-seeded Cardinals responded with three runs in the bottom of the first, then 13 more over the next five innings to win the game 16-6 in six innings, ending Paris’ season and the baseball careers of the team’s seniors. Paris coach Kyle Campbell was effusive in his praise of the team’s graduating class following the loss but noted that the stellar first inning was a silver lining to an otherwise tough outcome.

“Some of those guys are three, four year starters, and played anywhere and everywhere I needed them to,” he said. “They were here with me day one when I first got the head coaching job and we won five games that first year back in 2021. They progressed, five wins, seven wins, nine wins, and up to 13 wins this year, and those guys stepped up to be leaders. Even though we lost, I do feel like they went out on a high note because we did play pretty well to start the game.”

Junior Cameron Mays scored Paris’ first run of the game on a bases-loaded walk for senior Jakari Ransom. Freshman Xavier Brown and senior Luke Berry each blasted RBI singles. Brown, Berry, Ransom, junior Elijah Young, and senior Branson Frazier all notched runs for the Hounds, while sophomore Sam Morris earned an RBI.

“We were trying to be aggressive at the plate all game,” said Campbell. “We knew they were going to come in throwing strikes. All their pitchers throw pretty well, 75 plus, so we knew we didn’t want to get behind and in a defensive mode when we were swinging, so we just tried to play aggressive and things really just clicked there in that first inning, I just wish we were able to stay that aggressive, get some more hits, get some more base runners, but sometimes that’s just how the game goes.”

Despite the lopsided final score, the first inning was one of Paris’ best this season and gave the program reason for optimism moving forward. Campbell noted that he feels good about the foundation that the seniors laid and the young talent he has to work with moving forward.

“I think we’ve got a young hungry team ready to go,” he said. “We are going to give them a couple of weeks off, then going to play a little travel ball with them and go into the fall and see what we got.”

Following the game, Cameron Mays was named to the All District Team and Jakari Ransom was named to the All-Tournament Team.

GRC advances to play tournament host Bourbon County in tonight’s championship game following the Colonels 6-0 victory over Montgomery County in Monday’s second semifinal matchup.

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All Paris photos taken by Jennifer Arnett