The Marshall County Stars shined brightly on Sunday night, as they hammered Giles County 11-0 in five innings at Jonathan D. Hollingsworth Memorial Park in the first round of the 14-year old Babe Ruth District tournament.

Aided by a five-run first inning, Marshall County pounded out 12 hits and drew four walks against two Giles County pitchers.

Ben Taylor led the Stars' offensive attack by going 2-for-3 with a double, 3 RBI, and two runs scored. Austin Wood (2 RBI), Trent Richardson (1 RBI), and Iendi Biggers tallied two hits apiece for Marshall County as well, while Jay Howard (1 RBI), Brett McGehee, Will Johnson, and Logan Bailey each had one hit.

Scoreless innings

Marshall County starting pitcher Brayden Gentry tossed four scoreless innings to earn the victory on the mound and allowed three hits and three walks during that span to go along with six strikeouts. Wood came on in relief of Gentry and yielded one hit in one scoreless inning of work.

Giles County starting hurler Colton Holley suffered the loss after surrendering seven runs over three innings on eight hits and three walks. Holley notched two hits to pace Giles County at the plate, while Ty Rose and Bryson Phillips both had one hit.

Giles County had a chance to take the lead in the top of the first inning when they put runners on second and third with one out thanks to a leadoff walk by Rose, and a Holley single, and a wild pitch, but Gentry retired the next two batters on a strikeout and a infield pop up to extinguish the threat

That missed opportunity quickly came back to haunt Giles County, as the Stars pushed across five runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 5-0 lead. Following a single by Johnson, Howard drew a walk to put men on first and second with one out. Johnson scored on a two-out RBI bloop double by Richardson before Taylor laced a two-run double down the left field line to make it 3-0. After courtesy runner Tristan Underwood advanced to third on a wild pitch, Bailey drew a walk and stole second. Wood then plated Underwood and Bailey by ripping a two-run single into centerfield.

No scoring

Giles County loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the second on an error and a pair of singles by Phillips and Rose, but Gentry snagged a line drive by Nicholas Foust to escape the jam.

In the bottom of the second, Marshall County tallied two more runs to open up a 7-0 advantage. Following a leadoff single by McGehee, Howard belted a RBI triple to right field before coming home on a RBI groundout by Gentry.

The Stars brought the mercy rule into effect by crossing home plate four times in the bottom of the fourth with the help of three Giles County errors, a Taylor RBI single, a bloop single by Bailey, and a Wood single to forge an 11-0 lead.

Wood then worked around a leadoff single by Holley in the top of the fifth to wrap up the victory for Marshall County.