Miners outlast Cards

LINTON -- In a game filled with offensive fireworks, the Linton-Stockton Miners scored 14 runs in their last four innings to notch a 14-9 victory over the visiting Bloomfield Cardinals here Saturday afternoon.

The Cardinals started the scoring when both Adam Quakenbush and Bart Query hit two-run home runs off of Miner pitcher Bryant Jackson in the first inning. Query pushed the lead to 7-0 in the top of the third inning when he hit a three-run homer, his second of the day.

The Miners responded with three runs in the bottom of the third, which was the last inning for Bloomfield starter David Deem. The Miners scored three runs again in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to 7-6, this time off of reliever Steven Bond.

Jacob Pyne hit an RBI single in the top of the fifth to extend the lead to 8-6, but Aspen Taylor hit a two-run home run to tie the game at 8-8. Two Bloomfield errors allowed two more runs to score in the bottom of the fifth, giving the Miners the lead at 10-8.

The Miners started the bottom of the sixth inning with back-to-back home runs, first by Joel Travis and then the second of the day by Aspen Taylor, who finished the day 4-for-4 with four RBIs. They pushed two more runs across to take a 14-8 lead into the seventh inning.

Bart Query had an RBI double in the top of fourth to set the final margin at 14-9. Query finished the day batting 4-for-4 with two home runs and six runs batted in.

Bryant Jackson pitched a complete game for the Miners, striking out nine Cardinal batters while walking four. He also went 2-for-4 from the plate and knocked in one run.

Miner coach Matt Fougerousse was happy with his team's performance, saying "The kids battled back and got a win. We just had to stay patient, and our bats started to come alive. Bryant had a rough start, but he settled into a groove, and credit to their hitters because they came out swinging early. I thought we did a good job and we pulled out a conference win."

Bloomfield coach Jason Pegg saw some positives for his team but also saw some areas for improvement.

"We had them down early and we had a chance to bury them early," he said. "We pitched a lot of guys and I thought they pitched well."

"We had way too many errors and too many mental mistakes, but I think that Linton just did a good job of battling and staying in it."

The Miners also prevailed in the junior varsity contest, this time by a score of 14-4 in a game that was called after four innings.

The Miners (3-2, 3-0) return to action Monday when they host Vincennes Rivet, while the Cardinals (0-9, 0-2) play again Tuesday when they host South Knox.

Bloomfield 403 010 1 -- 9 9 5

Linton-Stockton 003 344 X -- 14 13 1

Deem, Bond(4), Query(5), Heaton(6) and Query, Abrams(5), and Deaton(6); Jackson and Vowell. WP-Jackson. LP-Query. 2B -- Query (B), Taylor (LS) 2, Travis (LS). HR- Quakenbush(B), Query (B) 2, Taylor (LS) 2, Travis (LS). Junior Varsity -- Linton-Stockton 14, Bloomfield 4.