Sullivan lifts Genoa with arm, bat
GENOA CENTRAL 1, LINCOLN 0
PRESCOTT — Genoa Central’s Blake Sullivan hit a home run and tossed a complete-game two-hitter as the Dragons defeated Lincoln 1-0 Saturday in the Class 3A state semifinals.
Sullivan, a left-handed senior, has not lost a game as a pitcher in the last two years. He and Lincoln starter Cheyenne Vaughn matched pitch-for-pitch for most of the game until Sullivan homered over the right-field fence in the bottom of the third.
“I think Blake’s the best player in the state,” Genoa Central Coach Jonathan Goslin said. “I know there’s other good players; I’m not taking anything away from them, but the bottom line is I haven’t seen anybody take a game and put it on his back as much as him.”
Sullivan was also involved in a play at the plate in the fourth inning that spurred Goslin to make an official protest. Sullivan led off with a triple to right field and attempted to score on Cole Ridling’s grounder to short. The throw home was wide, and Sullivan appeared to have scored, but the umpire ruled Sullivan out for not trying to slide.
The resulting dispute ended with Goslin protesting and the run wiped off the scoreboard.
Sullivan threw 116 pitches, striking out 16 batters and walking only 3. SMACKOVER 7, CHARLESTON 3
The Buckaroos used four singles and a walk to push across five runs in a fiverun fifth.
Smackover and Charleston combined to leave 28 runners on base. Charleston loaded the bases three times but scored all three of its runs in the second inning to take a 3-1 lead.
Smackover opened the fifth trailing 3-2 and sandwiched two walks around two outs. Charleston brought in relief pitcher Chance Shelby, and he was immediately met with run-scoring singles by Mason Malone and Landon Bradley.
Hits by Jase Saulsbury and Logan Smith pushed the Buckaroos’ lead to 7-3.
Bradley, the Buckaroos’ starting catcher, picked up the save as a reliever, pitching the final three innings without giving up a run, including pitching out of a seventh-inning bases-loaded jam.