For the second straight night, Oldham County struggled to generate offense against an ace in a 7-0 loss to Spencer County on March 15.
Cincinnati commit Brady Coulter twirled six shutout innings, allowing just two hits and striking out 10 Colonels.
“This is our third game, and we’ve seen everybody’s No. 1. We know that’s going to happen. We’re going to see their best, and we want to see their best,” OCHS coach Bo Akers said. “It presents a challenge. We’ve got a younger group right now, and the battle at the moment is being on time on fastballs.”
The game marked Oldham County’s second straight 7-0 defeat after a 12-2 win over Kentucky Country Day in the team’s season opener.
“The last two days, we’ve run into a good pitcher-catcher combination, and that limits you when you’re getting guys on base but you have two outs and are down in the game,” Akers said. “Our kids are going to hit. We’re not there yet, but we’ll get there.”
With nearly all of its pitchers from a year ago graduated, Oldham County turned to a quartet of sophomores to get through its third game of the week.
Clay Carthledge, Joe Siderwicz and Jackson Martin all allowed two runs over two innings, and Logan Slechter surrendered an unearned run in one frame on the mound.
“I like how we’re growing. We need to cut down on the walks, but other than that, I like the group,” Akers said. “We feel like we have a lot of guys that can get in there and get the job done for us. The kids that have gotten opportunities have really done a good job with them.”
Spencer County beat the Colonels with consistent – but not explosive – offensive production. The Bears scored in every inning except for the third, but only hung one crooked number in the fourth inning, when it scored twice.
Three of the Bears’ seven runs were unearned after the Colonels committed a season-high four errors.
“We played an error free game Monday, we had two yesterday and a little more today. But it’s three games in three days, it’s been cold – we’re going to clean some stuff up. It’s so early in the year right now,” Akers said. “Some of it’s getting the right guys in the right spots, and some of it’s for guys to just come out and play with a little bit more confidence because they’re better than they think they are.”
Oldhsam County’s bet scoring opportunity came in the seventh inning, after Coulter left the game. The Colonels loaded the bases with a double and a pair of walks, but senior Jacob Delph got Slechter to pop out in foul territory to end the threat and the game.
OCHS worked six walks in the game but only recorded three hits.
The Colonels got an unexpected break to regroup, as its March 18 doubleheader with Anderson County was canceled due to cold temperatures. OCHS has four games on tap next week, beginning with a home game against Christian Academy of Louisville on March 20.
“We would’ve loved to go out there and play, but at the same time, it’s a great reset,” Akers said. “Baseball season doesn’t stop – it just keeps on rolling. We had the field for a couple of days to get some practice in and clean some of that stuff up. I’m excited to see what we look like on Monday, and we’ll go from there.”
SPENCER COUNTY 7, OLDHAM COUNTY 0
Spencer County 110 211 1 – 7
Oldham County 000 000 0 – 0
W – Brady Coulter L – Clay Carthledge 2B – Aaron Kokomoor HR – Coulter Records – Spencer County 3-0, Oldham County 1-2