Jordan Wombles put Bell County on his back and carried them to victory on Thursday when the Bobcats traveled to play Pineville. The senior smacked a grand slam beyond the left-field fence in the fourth and a two-bagger over the left-center field fence in the sixth en route to a 16-4 win.

“What can I say. (Wombles) called a great game. He runs the bases as good as anybody. We hadn’t hit a home run all year, and then he hits two,” said Bell County coach Robbie Landrum. “He did a fantastic job. Not only him, but Antonio (Zachery) came in to pitch and did exactly what we needed him to do.

“Other guys put the ball in play. Anytime, a win is a win. We’ll take it. We need every one we can get. I do want to shout out to Pineville. They’ve got a good program. I like coach (Chris) Murphy. I hate to see anybody lose, but I’m glad we won.”

On the opposite side of the field, errors quickly began racking up for Pineville in the later innings. After weathering the grand slam, the Lions battled back to cut the lead to two only to watch the game slip out of their grasp for a second time.

Fielding errors and bad decisions by the Lions helped Bell score 10 runs in the final two innings.

“We’re sitting top of the fifth, 6-4. We battled back in the bottom of the fourth (and) got back in the game,” said Pineville coach Chris Murphy. “Then they hit a two-run shot, and then after that we make two fielding errors in the same inning. We had three base running errors that cost us runs.

“Sooner or later, it’s got to stop — making the stupid mistake, not making the easy plays. Sooner or later, we’ve got to start making them. If not, we’re going to just keep doing the same thing we’re doing. We’ll see what happens. We’re going to keep working. We’re going to keep grinding, and hopefully this thing will turn around.”

The Bobcats tallied 20 hits on the day. Wombles‘ two home runs paced the team with the senior ending the game with six RBIs and three runs on three hits. Alex Mays also had an impressive showing tallying two runs and two RBIs on three hits.

Antonio Zachery, DJ Estes, Chandler Mink and Jacob Smith also registered multiple hits on the day.

Zachery earned the victory of on the mound. Through 4 1/3 innings, he allowed four runs. Estes came in for relief and earned the save.

Pineville ended the game with nine hits, all singles. Deon Coffman and Reed Baker both had multiple hits on the night. Baker finished with one RBI and one run on two hits. Coffman also had two hits during the game.

Reese Capps had one run and one RBI on one hit. Jonathan Simpson and Cole Gent each scored a run as well.

Simpson picked up the loss after allowing six runs through four innings. Josh Holland came in for relief in the fifth.

After a silent first inning, Bell County jumped in front when Mink scored on an error to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead in the second. Pineville answered in the bottom half of the inning as the team took a 2-1 lead on RBIs by Timothy Gambrel and Simpson.

The Bobcat knotted the game up at 2-2 in the third after an RBI single to left-center field by Jason Jones.

The tides began shifting in Bell County’s favor in the fourth. Three walks loaded the bases for the Bobcats with only one out on the board. Wombles then smacked a grand slam over the left-field fence to quickly balloon the lead to 6-2.

Not rattled by the home run, Pineville cut the lead to two in the bottom half of the fifth. With one out on the board, Simpson scored on a Capps single to narrow the deficit to 6-3. An RBI single by Baker cut the margins to 6-4 with bases loaded.

A strikeout by Dylan Morris and an out by Holland ended the inning with runners stranded.

It was Wombles who set the tone in the sixth. With Ethan Brock on first, Wombles hit a two-run homer over the fence to increase the lead to 8-4. Smith scored on an error to widen the lead to five before an RBI by Estes gave bell a 10-4 lead.

After reaching on an error, Mink scored on the Mays RBI to give the Bobcats an 11-4 lead.

Bell County sealed the game in the seventh scoring five more runs to secure the 12-run victory.

Up Next

Pineville (3-11) traveled to Owsley County (1-12) on Friday before heading to First Baptist Academy of Powell, Tennessee at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Bell County (9-3) will host Scott, Tennessee at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Reach Anthony Cloud at 606-302-9090 or on Twitter @AnthonyCloudMDN