MONTICELLO – The Lawrence County Cougars defeated the ForestHill Patriots 12-0 in Division 6-4A high school baseball actionTuesday night at Jimmie Davis Park. Lawrence County scored 7first-inning runs, then cruised to a 5-inning, 10-run rulevictory.

“We had a good night,” said fifth-year Lawrence County coachCory Keyes. “We desperately wanted to get this first win. It keepsus in good shape in terms of winning this division.”

With the win, Lawrence County improved to 17-6 overall, and 14-2in Division 6-4A play. LCHS will play a varsity doubleheader atForest Hill on Friday. The Cougars need one win to clinch thedivision championship.

Forest Hill, coached by Gary Alderman, fell to 11-12 on theseason. The Patriots also need one win. That would put the Patriotsin fourth place in the division, and earn them a trip to the 4Aplayoffs.

Tuesday’s game was over after the Cougars scored 7 first-inningruns. Wesley Wilson and Lane Stephens had RBI singles in the frame,and Willie Buckley whacked a 2-run homer. Lawrence County benefitedfrom 3 bases on balls and 2 Forest Hill errors.

Patriot starter T.J. Knowles shut the Cougars out in the secondinning, but Lawrence County added 2 more in the third. LCHS starterScott Votaw drove in both with a 2-out single.

In the bottom of the third, Tyler Reeves, Dillon Lee, and FordJohnson had singles as Lawrence County put up 3 more runs, makingit a 12-0 game.

That was more than enough for Votaw and company. He ran hisrecord to 8-1 by working 4 and 1/3 innings. He allowed 3 hits,walked 1, and struck out 7. After recording the first out in thetop of the fifth, Votaw gave way to Jacob Williams, who recordedthe final 2 outs. Williams allowed 1 hit.

Shortstop Edmund Cheatham, the Patriots’ top pitcher, had 2 hitsto lead Forest Hill. He is likely to pitch against the Cougars onFriday.

“I’m looking for a tough day Friday,” Keyes said. “Tonight’sscore is a little misleading. They’re not a bad looking team. Theybattled Scott pretty well, and we’ve still got to look at Cheatham.We’ve still got work to do to win this division.”