Bishop Verot Holds Off Cardinal Mooney For District Win

4A-5 rivals squared off Thursday when the Bishop Verot Vikings traveled to face the Cardinal Mooney Cougars in a match up of two teams that were undefeated within the district. The Vikings jumped out to the early lead and, behind 12 strikeouts from starter Levi Kelly, they held off the Cougars to pick up the important 2-1 victory.

The Vikings (5-3, 4-0) struck first in the top of the first inning on a double to right field from Carson Smith that brought home Gunnar Byrd to give the Vikings the 1-0 lead. Offense was at a premium and another run scored by Thomas Lemmerman a few innings later was enough for the Vikings and starter Levi Kelly.

Kelly stymied the Cougars (5-2, 2-1) through five innings of work. He allowed no runs on three hits with 12 strikeouts on the night. Kelly struck out the side twice through the five innings to pick up the victory.

Parker Shanahan, Tommy Hubbard and Paul Labriola tallied the only hits for the Cougars on a night where they only had eight base runners total. Jakob Jackson scored the only run of the night for the Cougars on an error in the bottom of the sixth.

Alex Rodman and John Schroyer shared the duties on the mound for the Cougars. Rodman and Shroyer combined to allow two runs, one earned, on seven hits with four strikeouts. They allowed just one more base runner than the Vikings’ pitchers but allowed one too many runs.

Damian Bishop came in to pitch the final two innings for the Vikings. Bishop allowed one unearned run on no hits and three walks and secured the win and picked up the save. The win gives the Vikings back-to-back victories over district opponents.

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