Cheek shuts down Vikings at Joe George Field

Dennis Holley Tribune Correspondent
Posted 4/28/21

The Community Vikings came calling to Joe George Field in Lewisburg to take on Marshall County Tigers on Monday evening in a District 12-AA baseball battle. With the regular season nearing completion and sharing the cellar in district standings with the Vikings, the Tigers saw the need to improve their position for the upcoming district tournament and they did exactly that as three runs in the first inning and four runs in the fourth produced an 8-1 victory for MCHS...

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Cheek shuts down Vikings at Joe George Field

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The Community Vikings came calling to Joe George Field in Lewisburg to take on Marshall County Tigers on Monday evening in a District 12-AA baseball battle.

With the regular season nearing completion and sharing the cellar in district standings with the Vikings, the Tigers saw the need to improve their position for the upcoming district tournament and they did exactly that as three runs in the first inning and four runs in the fourth produced an 8-1 victory for MCHS.

Right-hander Carson Cheek had eight strikeouts, battling hard for six innings before giving way to Logan McKnight, who retired the Vikings in the top of the seventh inning.

“It definitely wasn’t one of my best outings, but I kept it together and pushed through,” Cheek said. “My teammates were behind me and they hit the ball and it was a big win for us. I placed my fastball well.”

Three was the lucky number for recent Martin Methodist College signee Ryan Kirby, who went 3-for-3 at the plate with three runs scored, three stolen bases, and slashed a three-bagger for the Tigers.

Cheek set down the Vikings to start the game and his teammates gave him all the support he would need in the bottom of the first inning.

Peyton Graves led off with a drive that found the gap in left/center field and the speedy Graves slide safely into third base for a triple.

Kirby followed with a walk and promptly stole second to put runners in scoring position with no outs before Graves came home on a Bryson Hammons sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.

Caleb McElhaney drew a walk to extend the inning and Cheek helped his own cause with a base hit to left field, scoring Kirby to push MCHS’ lead to 2-0.

Tristan Griggs advanced the runners with a base hit and JW Beasley plated McElhaney with a single to push the Tiger’ lead to 3-0.

The Vikings struck back in the top of the second as Will Reed led off with a single, stole second base, and scrambled home when the Tigers committed an error, but Cheek bore down and stopped Community to maintain a two-run lead.

Vikings’ pitcher Zander Thurber worked around another base hit by Kirby in the second inning and a hit by Griggs in the third inning to keep the Tigers off the scoreboard, but the fourth inning saw MCHS take control of the game.

Thurber was his own worst enemy as four walks and two hits-baseman contributed to four MCHS runs.

Blake Moreland led off with a base hit for the Tigers and stole second base, Graves drew a walk, and Kirby was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

A Thomas sacrifice fly scored Moreland and Hammons walked to reload the bases.

McElhaney was hit by a pitch to force in another run and walks to Griggs and Beasley plated two more runs and at the end of the fourth inning, the Tigers led 7-1.

The Tigers tacked on another run after Kirby tripled and scored on a Hammons base hit to make it 8-1 after five innings.

Cheek kept the Vikings at bay until the top of the seventh inning when McKnight came in to complete the 8-1 MCHS victory.

“We did what we had to do, we swung the bats good, and we got a good performance from Carson (Cheek),” MCHS coach Mike “Monk” Reese said. “His pitch count got up, so I decided to take him out after the sixth inning.”

“Our defense was good. We just need to keep doing what we’re doing, getting better and be ready for the district tournament that’s coming up.”

The Tigers (13-9, 3-6) traveled to Unionville (16-11, 2-7) on Tuesday to complete the two-game series and the district regular season slate for both teams.

Community 010 000 0-1 4 1

MCHS 300 410 X-8 9 1

Community: Will Reed 1 for 3, Evan Petrie 1-for- 3, Jackson Bailey 1-for-3, Sam Holley 1-for-3.

RS: Reed.

LOB: 7

LP: Thurber (3.2IP, 6H, 7R 3ER, 6BB).

Gage Underwood (2.1IP, 1R, 1ER, 4K, 1BB)

MCHS: Ryan Kirby 3-for-3, Peyton Graves 2-for-5, Cheek 1-for-3, Tristan Griggs 2-for-4, JW Beasley 1-for-4.

RS: Kirby 3, Graves 2, McElhaney, Moreland, Hammons.

RBI: Hammons, Cheek, Beasley 2, Thomas.

3B: Graves, Kirby.

SB: Kirby 3, Griggs, Hammons.

LOB: 11

WP: Carson Cheek (6IP, 4H, 1R, 0ER, 8K, 3 BB)

Logan McKnight (1IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 1K, 0BB).