North Laurel All-Stars fall to Indiana, 3-1; play Ohio 5 p.m. Wednesday

Aug. 10—WHITESTOWN, Indiana — Jason Parman's North Laurel 11-12-year-old All-Stars' winner's bracket finals matchup with Indiana in the Central (Great Lakes) Region Tournament was postponed for a day due to inclement weather on Monday with his squad trailing Indiana 3-0 in the top of the second inning.

It was a game of few hits and few runs, as Indiana handed North Laurel its first loss of the Central (Great Lakes) Region, and All-Star action, by recording a 3-1 win on Tuesday.

Indiana did all of its damage on Monday, scoring three runs in the first inning off North Laurel's Ethan Anderson.

Marshall Mastin came on in relief in the second inning on Tuesday, and silenced Indiana's bats the remainder of the game, striking out nine batters while allowing only one hit and no walks.

Mastin also delivered North Laurel's lone hit of the game. He was 1-for-2 with a run scored. North Laurel only had two base runners the entire game.

Parman's squad will be back in action Wednesday at 5 p.m. against the same Ohio team they defeated on Sunday, 7-6. The game will be televised on ESPN.

Sunday's Game

Winner's Bracket Semifinals: North Laurel 7, Ohio 6

One swing of the bat from Cooper Parman assured the North Laurel 11-12-year-old All-Stars of moving on to the winner's bracket finals of the Central (Great Lakes) Region Tournament on Monday.

Parman, who had hit an earlier home run to tie the game at four apiece, connected with a three-run blast to straight center field to give his team an eventual 7-6 win over Ohio.

"I told them the game was gonna be a dog fight and it was, with our team someone is always stepping up and tonight Coop came through with two big hits and finished it off on the mound," North Laurel coach Jason Parman said.

"That's what we are here for, to get these kids to Williamsport and represent Kentucky. That's what these kids want and we are two games away from making that happen."

North Laurel trailed 2-0, and 4-3, before rallying to tie the game at four apiece in the top of the fourth inning.

Tate Marcum and Kip Allen both reached base in the top of the sixth inning with one out, and Parman followed with his towering home run. He stood at the plate and watched the ball sail over the fence, and then followed with a bat flip for the ages before rounding the bases.

"Honestly, on that big of stage, he has handled himself very well," Jason Parman said. "His play tonight was huge for us and the bat flip was just icing on the cake."

Parman then proceeded to shut the door on Ohio in the bottom of the sixth inning but it didn't come without one final rally.

Ohio connected with two infield hits, and a single in the inning and scored two runs to cut their deficit to 7-6.

They then put runners on second and third with one out before Parman sealed the deal by striking out the final two batters he faced.

Parman led North Laurel with three hits, four RBI, two home runs, and two runs scored while Kip Allen, Matthew Powenski, Ethan Anderson, and Nate Miller each finished with one hit and one run scored apiece. Jason Senters and Marshall Mastin each finished with a hit and an RBI apiece. Tate Marcum also scored in the win.

Allen threw three innings, surrendering four earned runs and three hits while striking out four batters. Matthew Powenski tossed two innings of scoreless ball, allowing only one hit while striking out three batters. Parman pitched one inning, allowing three hits and two earned runs while striking out three batters.

"We had a lot of 0-2 counts where we should've through out and didn't and got burned but that's baseball," Jason Parman said. "My pitchers continue to do what we need them to do and they did.

"My pitching will always keep me in a ball game," he added. "Kip Allen pitched very well mixing speeds as did Matthew Powenski which allowed Coop to shut the door on Hamilton (Ohio)."

First Round

Saturday's Game: North Laurel 5, Illinois 4

Jason Parman's North Laurel 11-12-year-old All-Stars scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back during their 5-4 win over Illinois during first-round action of Saturday's Central (Great Lakes) Region Tournament.

It was a little nerve-wracking, though.

Illinois began to chip away at its deficit and had the tying and go-ahead runs on second and third with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning before Cooper Parman came in relief and retired all five batters he faced, which included striking out three of them.

"I wasn't too nervous because I have a plethora of arms to go to in case one gets in trouble," North Laurel coach Jason Parman said. "All pitchers have a short leash because we have arms to come in behind them. So, if one struggles to find the zone it's the next dude up."

Jason Parman used his team's strength, pitching, to secure the win. Five pitchers stepped on the mound for North Laurel as Ethan Anderson notched the victory, tossing two and one/third of an inning while allowing two hits and two unearned runs. He finished with two strikeouts.

Nathan Miller tossed two/thirds of an inning of scoreless ball while Kip Allen pitched one and one/third of an inning, allowing one hit and one earned run. Jaxon Asher came in relief of Allen and allowed two hits and one earned run before Cooper Parman came in and slammed the door shut for North Laurel.

"I knew if I could get to the end of the game, I could bring in Cooper Parman and he could finish them off and that's what he did," Jason Parman said. "His fastball was touching mid-70s today, so he was warm."

Jason Parman said getting the win was "huge" while being able to save his pitching for future games was even bigger.

"I got a solid quality outing from Ethan Anderson," he said. "He will only need a day's rest while the other dudes are ready to go for tomorrow."

Anderson's two-run double in the first inning played a big part in the win along with Matthew Powenski's run-scoring double and Marshall Mastin's run-scoring single. Jason Senters also drove in a run during the top of the first inning.

"I told the kids if we can score five runs, we will win this ballgame and we did," Jason Parman said.

Powenski finished with a 2-for-3 effort at the plate while driving in a run, and scoring once. Mastin delivered two hits, and an RBI while Allen was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Anderson had a hit, two RBI, and one run scored while Cooper Parman finished with a hit, and a run scored. Jaxon Asher scored once while Jason Senters finished with an RBI.