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Cumberland Gap middle school baseball battled Bell County, Kentucky and lost by a single run 15-14.

Bell jumped on the Panthers during the opening inning, March 7. They plated 10 runs and kept the Panthers scoring down to only three.

Cumberland Gap added another run in the second and were holding off Bell County until they scored again in the third inning. The Panthers scored one run in the fourth but gave up another run to Bell during the top of the fifth.

The Panthers comeback happened during the bottom of the fifth as they did what it took to put nine runs on the scoreboard. They took the lead 14-12 but it wasn’t meant to be. Bell responded during the top of the final inning with three runs and the Panthers were not able to respond falling by the final of 15-14.

Andy Osborne and Asher Hatfield led the Panthers in hitting with three hits each, Isaac Brown had two and three others recorded one hit including Hudson Harris, Levi Moore and Kole Welch.

Osborne, Brown and Jaden Pearman shared time on the mound giving up a total of eight hits and 14 strikeouts.

The 2020 team members include Jaden Pearman, Asher Hatfield, Jonathan Wilder, Isaac Brown, Levi Moore, Rhett Posey, Dameon Daniels, Colson Shell, Landon Allen, Noah Meyer, Sashi Verma, Kole Welch, Hudson Harris, Brady Harris, Andy Osborne and Ethan Powell. They are coached by Brandon Allen.