Deem earns win No. 200 with 8-4 victory at Garrard County
Published 11:20 pm Tuesday, April 16, 2019
- Photo by Mike Marsee/Kennedy Qualls, right, of Boyle County steals second base ahead of a tag by Garrard County shortstop Fran Montgomery as Garrard second baseman Addison Pevley looks on during the fifth inning of Boyle’s 8-4 victory Tuesday.
LANCASTER – Brian Deem got a little choked up when he got a new T-shirt Tuesday night.
It wasn’t just any shirt, but a custom-made shirt given to the Boyle County coach on the occasion of his 200th career victory. The Boyle players presented it to Deem following their 8-4 win over 45th district rival Garrard County.
“I’m a very fortunate man,” Deem said. “I’ve just been very fortunate to have a lot of great kids, great parents, great support and a great staff.”
Deem said he was taken aback when pitcher Katy Grace Chadwell, Boyle’s only senior, spoke up in the postgame huddle and pulled out a shirt that had the Rebels’ insignia on the front and “Deem 200” on the back.
“They kind of took me by surprise and I got a little choked up,” Deem said. “It’s appreciated, because there’s a lot of people that have come before these kids and a lot that are going to come after them. It shows that they respect the program and the tradition that’s been built here.”
The impromptu presentation followed a game in which No. 9 Boyle (17-4, 2-0 district) notched its fourth straight win over Garrard (13-4, 0-1) and its seventh in the last eight meetings between the teams.
The Rebels got the jump on the Golden Lions with two runs each in the first and second innings. Izzy Gervacio and Hailey Cannon, the top two hitters in Boyle’s lineup, were a combined 4 for 4 in those two innings. Gervacio finished 3 for 4 with three runs, and Cannon was 2 for 4 with two RBIs.
“I thought we did a good job of sticking to our game plan,” Deem said. “We wanted to put some pressure on them defensively and force them to make some plays, and we had some big early hits that got some speed on the bases, and we were able to manufacture some textbook runs in the first two innings.”
A four-run fourth inning that included consecutive singles by Kennedy Qualls, Kelsea Hinkle and Gervacio gave Boyle an 8-1 lead.
Garrard got single runs in the third and fourth innings, and the Lions pulled within 8-4 on Grace Freeman’s two-run home run in the fifth. The blast over the left-field fence capped a 3-for-3 night for Freeman.
However, the Lions reached base only once after that against Chadwell, who scattered nine hits and struck out four without a walk.
Garrard pitcher Kelsey Perkins also allowed nine hits, and she had six strikeouts and one walk.
