CENTERBURG — The chase for the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference baseball championship is shaping up to be a three-team race.
Centerburg, Cardington and East Knox have separated themselves from the field as the first round of conference play nears its conclusion. The Pirates are atop the KMAC standings at 5-0, while the Trojans and Bulldogs each have one conference loss.
Centerburg boasts the KMAC’s top pitcher in Daniel Lemaster. The senior right-hander struck out 13 in a complete-game one-hitter against Danville last week.
Lemaster is 3-0 with a 0.28 earned run average and a whopping 63 strikeouts in 25 innings of work. He registered a season-high 20 whiffs in a 2-0 win over Northmor on April 2.
The Trojans are also getting it done at the plate. Centerburg was hitting a KMAC-best .352 as a team going into this week.
As for East Knox, the Bulldogs rank among the KMAC’s top offensive teams. Six regulars have knocked in five or more runs. Luke Holsinger is second in the KMAC with eight runs batted in, while Shane Gardner and Jaxon Lester have seven RBIs apiece.
Fredericktown is off to an uncharacteristically slow start. The Freddies are just 1-7 overall and are still searching for their first KMAC victory after Monday’s loss to East Knox.
Danville handed Centerburg its first KMAC loss Monday afternoon. The Blue Devils scored six runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth for a come-from-behind 9-6 victory. Grayson Brokaw and Caleb Lucas each had three hits, while Lucas, Nolan Ridgeway and Brayden Anderson knocked in two runs apiece.
Yellow Jackets in the LCL
Mount Vernon’s first trip through the Licking County League is off to a rocky start.
The Yellow Jackets were 3-4 going into Monday’s LCL Buckeye Division game at Granville after Saturday’s 3-1 win over Lexington.
The Yellow Jackets won the Ohio Cardinal Conference championship last spring, but lost OCC Player of the Year Konner Daughriety to graduation. Coach Nate Hunt welcomed back a talented nucleus, including OCC first-teamers Kayden Packard and Ezra Kurek.