Forrest Rocket head coach Andy Burkett picked up his career 100th win as the head coach of the Rockets during the Mid-South Classic over the weekend. (Post File Photo by Chris Siers)
STAFF REPORT
The Forrest Rockets put forth an impressive showing in the Mid-South Classic, posting a 3-1 overall record throughout the weekend.
Friday night’s 6-4 win over Clarksville Northwest landed head coach Andy Burkett his 100th career win at the helm of the Rockets.
FORREST 17, CORNERSVILLE 0
After sweeping Cascade in district play last week, the Rockets kept it rolling in a big way, beating in-county rival Cornersville 17-0 in five innings.
The Rockets hammered out 11 hits and put a 10-spot on the board in the first inning to take total control of the game.
Tyler Tackett went 2-for-2 with three RBIs to his credit, while Blaize Bourne, Jordan Northam, Connor Harmon and Miller Ratliff each plated two more runs in the win.
Matthew Morgan got the win on the mound and pitched a five-inning shutout with nine strikeouts.
Cornersville 000 00 — 0 0 3
Forrest (10)12 4x — 17 11 2
Forrest: Luke Perry 2-for-5, Blaize Bourne 2-for-3, John King 1-for-1, Jordan Northam 1-for-2, Braiden Bourne 1-for-1, Tyler Takcett 2-for-2. Connor Harmon 1-for-2, Miller Ratliff 1-for-2.
WP: Morgan
LP: Riner
FORREST 6, NORTHWEST 4
Sophomore Travis Porter pitched a complete game against Clarksville Northwest and danced around some late-game trouble to earn the win on the mound as Forrest outlasted the Vikings 6-4 in the second game of the Mid-South Classic.
Forrest jumped on Northwest in the bottom of the first and scored three runs, the first of which came when Kason Fuller safely reached on an error, allowing Tyler Baxter to score.
Luke Allen singled home the second run of the game in the next at-bat.
Fuller later scored when Paxton Mealer ground out to second, giving the Rockets a 3-0 lead.
Forrest padded its lead in the second inning with two more runs.
With two outs, Branham Haynes and Fuller came through with back-to-back singles before Allen drew a walk to load the bases, bringing Matthew Morgan to the plate.
Morgan mashed a double to deep center field, scoring Haynes and Fuller to give the Rockets a 5-0 lead.
Northwest got two runs back in the top of the third, but Forrest wasn’t done at the plate and added one final run in the bottom of the third on a sac-fly RBI by Lane Smith.
Northwest made things interesting by scoring two more runs in the top of the fifth, but Porter was able to settle in and record the final outs to secure the second win of the weekend and give head coach Andy Burkett his career 100th win as head coach of the Rockets.
Morgan led Forrest at the plate and went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
Northwest 002 2 — 4 4 1
Forrest 321 0 — 6 6 1
Forrest: Tyler Baxter 1-for-2, Branham Haynes 1-for-2, Kason Fuller 1-for-3, Luke Allen 1-for-2, Matthew Morgan 2-for-3.
WP: Porter
FORREST 8, ROCKFORD (Ill.) 7
After trailing for the majority of the game against Rockford (Ill.), the Forrest Rockets had to rely on some sixth-inning magic from Kason Fuller, who connected on a game-winning RBI single to land Forrest’s third win of the weekend with the 8-7 thriller of a victory.
Entering the bottom of the sixth, the Rockets trailed Rockford 7-5, but got just what they needed with a lead-off single from Matthew Morgan.
Lane Smith then walked before Tyler Baxter hit a sac-fly RBI, scoring Morgan.
Branham Haynes was then intentionally walked, bringing Fuller to the plate.
Fuller then mashed a line-drive single to right, allowing Haynes and courtesy runner Chris Sonnenburg to score the tying and winning runs.
Fuller went 2-for-3 with three RBIs on the night, while Luke Allen went 1-for-3 with two RBIs to his credit.
Gentry got the win on the mound, pitching four innings and allowing just one earned run on four hits while striking out five.
Rockford 510 010 — 7 8 1
Forrest 300 023 — 8 9 3
Forrest: Tyler Baxter 1-for-3, Branham Haynes 2-for-3, Kason Fuller 2-for-3, Braiden Bourne 1-for-1, Matthew Morgan 1-for-1, Lane Smith 1-for-1.
WP: Gentry
RICHLAND 8, FORREST 2
Although the Rockets had built a 3-0 run through the weekend, errors and one big inning by Richland was more than Forrest could overcome in an 8-2 loss to cap the weekend.
Forrest grabbed an early 1- lead in the first inning, but Richland answered with a pair of runs in the top of the second.
Eventually, Richland drove in four runs in the top of the sixth, ultimately putting the game out of reach.
Reid Gentry went 2-for-3 to lead Forrest at the plate.
Richland 021 104 — 8 10 1
Forrest 100 100 — 2 8 4
Forrest: Tyler Baxter 1-for-3, Branham Haynes 1-for-2, Luke Allen 1-for-3, Blaize Bourne 1-for-1, Nolan Hutton 1-for-2, Reid Gentry 2-for-3, Travis Porter 1-for-3.
WP: Edwards
LP: Northam
