By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Every team could use a good break. Bedford North Lawrence just got overwhelmed by an avalanche of bad ones. In a short span, the Stars lost half their starting infield with broken bones, and another reserve infielder looks like he went a few rounds with MMA legend Conor McGregor.
Despite the fractures, BNL is not broken. The Stars plugged the holes and plugged away for a mercy-rule victory over struggling Martinsville. Next man up, batter up.
With younger personnel forced to step up in the pecking order, BNL took out a few frustrations with a 12-2, six-inning victory over the Artesians on Friday night. Sophomore hurler Maddox Garrison filled a void on the mound, while Jett Alvey and Jack Parsons came through in the bottom of the order as the Stars (6-6) ended a brief two-game skid.
Garrison struck out six and allowed only four hits. Alvey had two hits and drove in three runs, Parsons pounced with a key hit during a six-run second, and the Artesians (1-15) compounded their problems with seven errors. BNL was thankful for the respite as Jackson Jones (back), Greyson Gillespie (hand) and Trey Kiser (orbital bone) recover from season-ending injuries.
“We’re going through some adversity, so tonight was much needed, to right the ship,” BNL coach Steven McNabb said. ”Jackson had been playing through an injury all season, with his back. He had a swing at Borden that flared it up. Grayson broke two bones in his hand (at Columbus East), so obviously that’s our starting left side of the infield. That’s a huge hit for a team that’s young already. Now we’re younger and more inexperienced.
”We talked about the next man up, not making excuses. It’s easy to do when you lose key players.”
Martinsville struck first when Rhys Wolf blasted a home run to deep right in the first inning. “I learned to not throw him a fastball,” Garrison said. “That’s not where I wanted that pitch to go.” So he switched to reliance on the changeup, and almost every pitch after that went where he wanted.
“The changeup was feeling really good,” he said. “It was the go-to pitch, pretty much the whole game.”
BNL pulled even with a run in the first, then took control in the second. The highlight hits came from Grady Dalton (RBI single), Cutler Chastain (RBI single), Parsons (two-run rifle to center) and Alvey (two-run rip to center).
”Maddox gave us a great start, Jett had a big hit, Jack had a big hit,” McNabb said.
The Stars added a run in the third (Chastain doubled, stole third and scored on an error), then walked it off with a four-run sixth (with three bases-loaded walks).
Dalton and Chastain added two hits each, Cam Gates scored three times, and the Stars drew nine walks from three Martinsville pitchers.
“We don’t take anything for granted, whether it’s the size of the school we play or their record,” McNabb said. “I’ve been around this game long enough, if you don’t play well, you can get beat by anybody that plays this game. That’s the beauty of baseball, and sometimes that’s the hardship of baseball.”
BNL will host North Posey on Saturday.
