Beechwood baseball shut down by one of Kentucky's top pitchers in state quarterfinal loss

LEXINGTON – Beechwood’s bid for a state baseball championship ended at the hand of the  left arm of one of the top pitchers in Kentucky Saturday.

The Tigers fell 1-0 to Russell County in the state quarterfinals of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association state baseball tournament at the University of Kentucky’s Kentucky Proud Park.

Beechwood, in the state tourney for the third-straight season, ends with a 29-7 record. The Lakers (30-6), champions of the Fourth Region, advance to next weekend’s semifinals.

The Tigers were shut out by Russell County senior pitcher Cody Luttrell, a 6-foot-2 left-hander who had impressive statistics coming in.

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Luttrell had an 11-0 record, allowing only five earned runs all season in 63 innings. He allowed only 36 hits and 11 walks coming in, and struck out nearly two per inning.

Luttrell lived up to that billing against the powerful Beechwood lineup that averages 10 runs per game. The southpaw pitched a complete-game four-hitter, walking none and striking out eight. He threw 81 pitches, 58 for strikes.

“He was fantastic,” said Beechwood head coach Kevin Gray. “He kept us off balance. He mixed his pitches up. We knew he had (124) strikeouts and 11 walks, so we told the kids ‘Get in there and take your hacks. You know he’s going to throw strikes.’

None of the four hits were hard-hit balls. Luttrell wasn’t an extremely overpowering pitcher, but his versatility and left-handed craftiness kept the Tigers guessing all day.

“He just did a good job locating pitches, switching up his looks, changing his pitch location,” said Beechwood senior Jackson Roseburrough. “He did a good job of coming in and coming outside on everybody, righty or lefty.”

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The Lakers got the only run they needed in the top of the second. Two singles to lead off the inning put runners at first and third with nobody out. Beechwood starting hurler Sam Cottengim struck out the next batter for the first out.

The next batter, Evan Hammond, tried to bunt the runner home on the first pitch. He failed twice, but on the third, he bunted fair down the first-base line. Beechwood got him out, but the runner scored to make it 1-0.

Cuttrell retired the first eight Tiger batters. The ninth, Landon Johnson, became Beechwood’s first baserunner after hitting a chopper to shortstop for an infield single.

Cameron Boyd singled to the outfield, with Johnson advancing to third. Cuttrell struck out Holladay on a 3-2 count to end the inning.

Evan Hammond doubled to lead off the fifth inning for Russell County. Cottengim retired the next three batters to keep him there and keep the score at 1-0.

In the bottom of the fifth, Cottengim singled with one out.

Senior Jackson Roseburrough, who has had one clutch hit after another in the postseason, followed with a long fly ball to left field. It might have been a home run in a high school field, but instead was an out at the Division I college park, which is 335 feet down the line in left.

“I barreled it up pretty well,” Roseburrough said. “For a second, I thought it was going, but I saw the outfielder stop and catch it. Nothing you can do about that.”

With one out in the sixth, the Lakers got back-to-back doubles from their top two hitters, Nathan Lawson and Isaac Roy. Roy’s fly ball to right field hit the wall halfway up, but was high enough that Lawson had to tag up at second just in case.

Gray brought in reliever Torin O’Shea, who induced a pop-up and fly-out to keep the deficit at one.

“Torin’s been doing that all year for us,” Gray said. “We had confidence bringing him in to get us out of that jam. Luckily for us, he’s a junior.”

Cottengim pitched 5 1/3 innings of one-run baseball, allowing six hits, walking none and striking out three. He finished 5-1 with a 1.31 earned-run average.

The Tigers got another chance in the bottom of the sixth. Holladay singled to center with one out. Luttrell struck out Brice Estep on three pitches.

With cleanup batter Mitchell Berger at the plate, Holladay tried to steal second but was called out on a very close play.

Berger came back to the plate to lead off the seventh. He hit a deep fly ball to left field near the fence. The wind carried it away from the left fielder, but he was able to catch it.

“I heard the umpire say ‘If the wind wasn’t blowing in, you’d have two home runs,’” Gray said. “But that’s baseball. I told the guys that sometimes you got to tip your cap to the other team. (Luttrell) pitched great. Sam pitched great for us. Great high school game.”

Ben Meier followed Berger with a hard line drive to his right that the second baseman had to slide to his right to catch before it hit the ground. Luttrell then struck out Tanner Jackson for the final out.

It was the only shutout suffered by the Tigers this season. They had been limited to one run twice.

“(Luttrell’s) a lot better than advertised, I can tell you that,” Gray said. “I never thought I’d see the day someone would shut us out. He did well, and their teammates play for him.”

Since the seniors were freshmen in 2019, the Tigers have been on a three-season run with a 98-16 record and two All “A” Classic state championships.

“When you stop and think about what we’ve accomplished, what these seniors have in four years is incredible,” Gray said. “They’ve got two All ‘A’ state championships, three Ninth Region championships. We got to keep our heads up. It’s tough for me to look these seniors in the eye knowing this is it, but they’ve really done well for us and they’re a joy to coach.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Beechwood shut out for first time this season in state quarterfinals