Cardinals battle past Tigers, 11-4

By Denver Brown - Executive Editor

May 14, 2008 01:48 pm

— In the fourth inning of a coach-pitch matchup Monday night, Hunter Psimer belted a bases-clearing grand slam home urn that put his Cardinals in front of the Tigers, 7-2. Two innings later, the players in red celebrated the 11-4 hard-fought win on the Little League field in Olive Hill.
“It felt really great,” Psimer told The Journal-Times about stomping the plate and high-fiving his teammates after the big hit. “It was fun to hit the home run, but it was best that we won.”
The Cardinals improved to 4-2 on the season with the 25-hit victory.
“The Tigers played really good defense,” Cardinal infielder Dalton Roark said. “But we hit the ball good, tonight.”
Shelby Kouns, the shortstop/catcher for the Tigers, complimented the redbirds’ offense.
“They do hit really well and they also catch the ball, too,” Kouns said. “We didn’t hit very well in the beginning, but in the end we were encouraged and hit good in that last inning.”
The Tigers rallied for two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, giving the game its final.
Psimer and Trace Moore each went 4-4 at the plate in the win and Dylan Hanshaw and Jody Ingle each had three hits. Hunter Shaffer, Dalton Roark, Cole Lambert, Brian Middleton and Evan Burton each sent two hits through the defense. Noah Adkins had one hit for the Cards in the win.
Both teams told the local media about improvements since the beginning of the season.
“Some people in the beginning couldn’t hit or catch,” the Tigers’ Tanton Kiser said, “But now they can – we’re all getting better.”
Dylan Hanshaw of the Cardinals talked about practices.
“We’re pretty much practicing on catching the ground balls and we’re learning to hit – we’re doing better, too.”
In a local girls’ softball contest, the Punkettes went to 8-0 on the season with a convincing 12-2 win over the Bad News Babes on Saturday.
“The season is going good because we have won all our games and we work together and try out best,” Allie Bond said.
Leatha Reynolds was the wining pitcher with 11 strikeouts, four walks and two hits.
“I like playing defense because I like to field the ball and the excitement of trying to get an out,” Leanna Bailey said.
Nikki Bond said the Punkette players know each other well and anticipate the plays.
“We’ve all played together for quite a while and know what to expect from each other,” she said.
Got a stat sheet or score to report from Olive Hill or Grayson Little League? Call the sports desk 474-5101, or fax the information to 474-0013.

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