Collins Takes Perfect Game Into The Fifth, Owls Top Cannon County

by Rusty Ellis

The Smith County Owls got the District 6/AA Tournament off on a dominant note, as they took down Cannon County 10-0 behind an excellent start on the mound by Case Collins.

After Collins tossed a pair of scoreless innings to start the contest, the Owls gave him some run support with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second thanks to a pair of Lion errors and a Kylan Johnson RBI single.

A third run came around to score in the bottom of the third, as Kaden Powell drove in Bennett Gammon with an RBI single to make the score 3-0.

The score remained this way until the sixth inning, as Collins continued throwing scoreless innings up for the Owls. Cannon County failed to get anything going against the freshman until the fifth inning, as Collins had a perfect game up until that point. Despite giving up the two-out single, a fielder’s choice ended the inning with no harm done.

Smith County put the game away with an seven-run sixth inning, as they earned the run-rule victory 11-0 over Cannon County.

For head coach Derek Bush, he was mainly proud of the intensity his team played with from the start.

“When we got to their bullpen, I felt like we had a good chance to scratch a few across,” Bush said. “Our guys are tenacious, I love their fight. We can really do something special when we put it all together like we did today.”

Collins pitched like a seasoned veteran, as he threw six innings of two-hit ball with six strikeouts and no walks. For Bush, it’s nothing different than what he’s seen all season from the freshman.

“He’s got ice in his veins,” Bush said. “He’s not fazed by the moment, it’s just like he’s playing in the backyard…I can’t say enough things about Case. He just dominates the strike-zone, he’s just a bulldog.”

The Owls will now make the quick turnaround to play the winner of Watertown-Westmoreland on Thursday, and Bush hopes to see this energy his team played with carry over.

“I just want to see the intensity, and us keep this fight we’ve got,” Bush said. “We’ve got some good things going and we’re in a good head space, we’ve just got to keep things rolling.”

Smith-Cannon-55Smith-Cannon-56Smith-Cannon-57Smith-Cannon-58Smith-Cannon-59Smith-Cannon-60Smith-Cannon-61Smith-Cannon-62Smith-Cannon-63Smith-Cannon-64Smith-Cannon-65Smith-Cannon-66Smith-Cannon-67Smith-Cannon-68Smith-Cannon-69Smith-Cannon-70Smith-Cannon-71Smith-Cannon-72Smith-Cannon-1Smith-Cannon-2Smith-Cannon-3Smith-Cannon-4Smith-Cannon-5Smith-Cannon-6Smith-Cannon-7Smith-Cannon-8Smith-Cannon-9Smith-Cannon-10Smith-Cannon-11Smith-Cannon-12Smith-Cannon-13Smith-Cannon-14Smith-Cannon-15Smith-Cannon-16Smith-Cannon-17Smith-Cannon-18Smith-Cannon-19Smith-Cannon-20Smith-Cannon-21Smith-Cannon-22Smith-Cannon-23Smith-Cannon-24Smith-Cannon-25Smith-Cannon-26Smith-Cannon-27Smith-Cannon-28Smith-Cannon-29Smith-Cannon-30Smith-Cannon-31Smith-Cannon-32Smith-Cannon-33Smith-Cannon-34Smith-Cannon-35Smith-Cannon-36Smith-Cannon-37Smith-Cannon-38Smith-Cannon-39Smith-Cannon-40Smith-Cannon-41Smith-Cannon-42Smith-Cannon-43Smith-Cannon-44Smith-Cannon-45Smith-Cannon-46Smith-Cannon-47Smith-Cannon-48Smith-Cannon-49Smith-Cannon-50Smith-Cannon-51Smith-Cannon-52Smith-Cannon-53Smith-Cannon-54