Clay baseball gets road win at Green, stay unbeaten in SOC

Apr. 17—FRANKLIN FURNACE — A four RBI day by senior Shaden Malone and a combined one-hit performance on the hill led the Clay Panthers to an 11-0 win over Green in SOC I play.

The win gives the Panthers (8-3, 5-0 SOC) a season-sweep over their fellow SOC I Co-Champions from the 2019 season and continues their unbeaten start in league play this season

"It was a good bounce back win after a tough loss to Valley on Tuesday," Clay coach Marc Cottle said. "Evan (Woods) and Clay (Cottle) pitched very well and we had some timely hits with runners in scoring position. When you have no walks and no errors, you will be able to be very competitive in most games."

Clay Cottle got the start on the mound for the Panthers and did his work efficiently — allowing one hit and striking out eight Bobcat batters on 34 pitches.

Senior Evan Woods relieved Cottle in the fourth inning with a 9-0 lead and got six consecutive outs to end things in five.

Green's Dustin Sprouse had the Bobcats' lone hit — a second inning lead off single.

Clay had 10 hits and 10 RBI as a team in the win as Panthers Shaden Malone and Gregory Gleason both had multi-hit days.

Malone finished 3-of-4 at the plate with a game-high four RBI, while Gleason went 2-of-2 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Cottle, Jaden Jessee, Woods, Porginski, and Evan Balestra each also had a hit in the victory.

Jessee had a pair of RBI on a double, while Balestra also had two RBI on his single.

***

BOX SCORE

Clay: 1 3 5 0 2 — 11 10 0

Green: 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 1 1

W: Cottle (C), L: Brannigan (G)