Livingston stuns Lions

By TONY STINNETT,  Courier Sports Editor

Cannon County continued to play well in District 8-AA competition; however, the Lions let a big league game get away in a two-game series against Livingston Academy last week.

The Lions wasted another sterling effort from sophomore pitcher Tucker Francis in a 4-2 setback Monday.
They self-destructed in a 10-7 extra-inning loss Tuesday.

“For whatever reason we didn’t throw strikes, we missed a couple of ground balls, missed a pop-up and next thing you know it’s tied,” Lions coach Justin Fann said.

Cannon County (1-13, 1-5) carried a 7-1 lead into the sixth inning.

Starter Jake Todd was outstanding in the start. He pitched into the fourth inning, allowed one hit, one run and struck out six.

He gave Cannon County a chance to win but a combination of porous defense, shaky bullpen pitching and mental mistakes cost the Lions.

Things began to unravel in the sixth; however, the Lions still led 7-2 with two outs. It was tied, 7-7, before they got the third out. Livingston Academy (11-2, 4-2) scored three in the eighth to take the series sweep.

“You are sitting there feeling good and then it just unravels,” Fann said. “This was a tough one.”

Todd was 3-for-4 with one run scored in the setback. Nick Vassar was 2-for-5 with a double, RBI and run scored. Trent Bragg, Jackson Mason, Josh Williams and Sam Schau also had hits for the Lions.

The Lions dropped a 4-2 decision at Livingston Academy Monday.

Francis pitched a complete game, scattering six hits, striking out seven and walking one. He allowed two runs through five innings against a Livingston team averaging 10 runs per contest.

The Lions were unable to muster any offense to support the strong effort.

Livingston tacked on two insurance runs in the sixth to go up 4-0. It proved huge because Cannon County scored two in the seventh. Williams and Austin Martin each had two hits for the Lions. Vassar was 1-for-3 and reached base three times.