Ashton Smith scored in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the Tug Valley Panthers a dramatic, 4-3, win over the Mingo Central Miners on Thursday.
The Miners got on the board in the top of the 2nd inning when Aaron Blankenship scored on an error. Terry Daniels then singled home Kenneth Smith to make it a 2-0 lead. The lead increased to 3-0 in the top of the 4th inning when Chris Ross came home on a ground out.
Tug Valley scored in the bottom of the 4th inning when Dakota Ooten came home on a wild pitch. Later in the inning, Elijah Fluty scored on a ground out to cut the Miners’ lead to 3-2. The Panthers tied it up at 3-3 in the bottom of the 5th inning when Conner Lackey singled to score Brayden Dotson.
The score remained the same until the bottom of the 9th inning. Smith led off the inning with a triple to left field. Two batters later, Dotson hit a grounder, and Smith beat the throw home to earn the win.
Gage Whitt picked up the win after pitching 2 scoreless innings in relief. Whitt allowed only 1 hit and struck out 2 batters. Smith was given the loss for Mingo Central after allowing only 1 run on 1 hit while striking out 3-1/3 innings.
Tug Valley will next play on Friday when it travels to Phelps. Mingo Central is scheduled to play Wyoming East on Saturday.
