The high school baseball season is still young, but Pike County has already claimed county bragging rights for the time being with its 11-6 win over Goshen Friday.

“The kids played hard, and they fought hard,” said PCHS head coach Nathan Fordham. “We hit the ball a lot better, but we still need to clean it up defensively. All in all, it’s a good win for us and it’s a good win for the kids.”

After the game, Goshen head coach Ryan Ellison said brighter days were ahead for the Eagles.

“We’re still trying to gel as a team,” Ellison said. “They had a tough year last year, so we’re still trying to build the belief in themselves. We’ve got a lot of young guys playing, so we’ve got some growing to do.”

Eight of Pike County’s 11 runs came in the third and fourth innings, when the Bulldogs scored four runs in each inning.

Zack Ming came through with a two-RBI double in the third and a two-RBI triple in the fourth.

“He’s come through a couple times for us already,” said PCHS head coach Nathan Fordham. “He’s come on real strong in practice lately, so we decided to put him in the DH spot, and he did a heck of a job. We’re real proud of him.”

Goshen led 2-0 in the first, and was able to hold the lead until the third inning, when PCHS took a 4-2 lead. The Eagles tied the game in the top half of the fourth on an RBI single from Justin Atwell before Pike County took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth with four big runs. Goshen responded in the top of the fifth with two runs to cut the lead to 8-6.

Pike County scored the final three runs, however, scoring two in the fifth and one in the sixth.

Cody Sanders pitched the final three innings for PCHS, giving up just one run and one hit while striking out six. Ming led PCHS, going 3-4 with four RBIs. Ethan Register went 3-4 with an RBI for Goshen, while Antarius Townsend went 1-3 with two RBIs.

Despite the tough loss, Ellison said the Eagles were on the cusp of a breakthrough. “We made a couple errors, and that helped them out some,” Ellison said. “But, overall we’re coming together and we’re becoming a team. I’m proud of our guys.”