Miranda H. Lewis
Carter County Times
Xavier Rose, Corey Hedge and Jake Carter led the Comets in hits in the 2022 baseball season.
Sophomore Carter led the Comets in batting average (.385) and RBI’s (16) last season.
He returns to foot the rubber as West Carter’s shortstop and will also join senior Rose and junior Hedge in pitching rotation for the 2023 season.
Rose will step up to fill the void at shortstop when Carter pitches and will relieve Hedge as catcher, too.
Freshman Tabor Tackett has proven his potential as the Comets’ first basemen.
Junior Ty Stinson will be at the hot corner and may handle some innings on the mound, if needed.
Freshman Brody Boggs, sophomore Kale Back, and senior Christian Manning are covering the outfield for the Comets.
West Carter (1-3) hosted Raceland (4-1) in the 16th Region All “A” Classic Semi-Finals on Tuesday, March 20.
The Rams earned a 15-0 win with five innings of work.
Like most early season experiences, the game had rough edges. There were three walks issued to the Comets and 15 earned runs.
All things considered, the on-field product and the pace showed promise for West Carter as they battle through inexperience and a pitcher shortage.
In the top of the first, Rose turned a 6-3 double play.
Hedge reached on a throwing error by third baseman in the bottom of the first, Rose flew out to left field and Carter struck out swinging.
A Raceland batter shot a triple into the right field gap at the top of the second.
Stinson and Tackett walked in the bottom of the second, Tackett was picked off at first base.
The Rams opened the top of the third on fire and carried that momentum to finish out their five-inning win.
Raceland highlights from the top of the third included a sacrifice fly to the center and a double into the left center gap that advanced the runner from first to third base.
To round out the third, the Rams took advantage of a 5-3 throwing error to score.
Rose went down looking in the bottom of the fourth and Carter hit a fly ball to left field.
Comets top Martin County
The Comets recovered with a 5-0 win over Martin County on Thursday, March 23.
Rose pitched seven strong innings, showing a dominant arm – throwing 88 pitches – eleven of them for strike outs.
“We’ve had a rough start going 1-3, but we’ve had a few guys step up and take a role on the field,” said Rose.
“Being down a few arms really motivated me to go all seven innings and secure our first win of the season,” he added.
Back paced the Comets in hitting with a 2-for-4 night, .500 (AVG). West Carter returns to action Thursday, March 30 against Fairview.