Story and Photos by Rusty Ellis
It took until the last at-bats, but the Livingston Academy Wildcats earned a hard-fought 2-1 walk-off win against Smith County on Monday night.
Both teams had early opportunities to score, as LA starter Creed Pierce worked around two walks and an error in the second inning to keep the game scoreless. Smith County pitcher Dennis West then pitched out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam of his own to move the game to the third inning.
Smith County catcher Ty Martin broke the scoreless tie in the third with a home run that landed just outside the neighboring softball field. The Owls wouldn’t hold the lead for long however, as Pierce knotted the score in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI single to centerfield.
This is where both pitchers settled in and began throwing scoreless innings back-and-forth at each other. When all was said and done, West finished with seven innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts.
Pierce continued into the eighth inning however, and after getting two quick outs, he got into trouble that forced a pitching change due to pitch count. Aaron Moffitt took over a 3-2 count with the bases loaded and recorded a one-pitch strikeout to keep the game tied.
The game continued in this direction until the ninth inning, where Smith County failed to record an out and Livingston earned a 2-1 victory on a ground-ball that caused the third baseman and shortstop to run into each other.
Pierce finished with 7.2 innings of one-run ball, while Moffitt earned the win with his 1.2 innings for head coach Jamie Loftis, who says this win could be attributed to two things.
“Pitching and defense,” Loftis said. “That wins games, and that’s what we did all night long…we could’ve had a little better two-out hitting, but pitching and defense (was fantastic).”
Pierce has now had two games so far this season where he’s pitched into the eighth inning, and though a high pitch count cut him short on Monday night, his coach still raved about the effort he gave on the mound.
“He’s pitched two eight-inning games and given up two earned runs,” Loftis said. “Creed is an extremely intelligent pitcher, and he does an outstanding job of keeping guys off-balance…he’s a catcher, so he knows how to pitch.”
It’ll be a quick turnaround for the Wildcats, as they will take on Monroe County (Ky) on the road on Tuesday at 5 P.M.
