The Cougars broke out their whoopin sticks in this one as they cranked out 12 hits in a 14-6 shellacking of North Clay in the Regional title game.

 

Three of them were of the long ball variety as Kyle Monical, Dylan Sill, and Tyler Gillett all went deep.

 

Monical's solo shot came in the first and cut the lead in half after North Clay put two runs on the board in their first at-bat. A throwing error and an RBI single by Colby Bushue then gave the Cougars a 3-2 lead.

 

Sill led off the third with his solo blast to make it 4-2 and after an RBI single off the bat of Reid Drewes later in the inning, the Cougars extended the lead to three.

 

The floodgates opened in the fourth as the Cougars sent twelve men to the plate scoring nine times. Tyler Gillett highlighted the inning with a grand slam while Brett Pitts and Drewes each 2 RBI singles.

 

Although the defense let him down by committing 6 errors, Derek Harmeier pitched brilliantlly picking up the complete-game win allowing 6 unearned runs, on 9 hits, 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts. With the win, he runs his record to an impressive 7-2 on the spring.

 

The Cougars now advance to the Edwards County sectional and will play the host Lions at 7:00 PM on Wednesday night.