Clint Thompson
THOMASVILLE — One of the top juniors in the country delivered a dominating performance Friday night.
Pitching against the Thomasville Bulldogs, Cook’s Kaleb Cowart fanned 10, allowed two baserunners and pitched a no-hitter as the Hornets stung the Bulldogs 9-0.
“It was a great pitcher on his game,” Thomasville coach Erik McDougald said. “That’s about all you can say. I don’t think we backed down at the plate. We swung at the ball, put the ball in play. They played good defense behind him.”
Cowart’s fastball, which topped out at 95 mph, was unhittable. It was instrumental in Cowart striking out five of the last seven batters.
Of Thomasville’s two baserunners, Cowart hit Joseph Deloach in the bottom of the first inning.
Thomasville’s only other batter to reach came in the second inning when Jonathan Branch reached on an error by Cowart, who slipped as he tried to field a grounder. Cowart retired the final 18 batters.
“That’s as good as you’re going to see in high school baseball anywhere. I don’t care where you go. That’s as good as you’re going to see,” McDougald said.
Cowart was also scintillating at the plate. Batting in the No. 3 position, the left-handed batter went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs. He also delivered an RBI single in the first inning when the Hornets struck for five runs off pitcher Brooks Woodward.
“To their credit, they had timely hits. They hit the ball hard. They put the ball in play real well on their end,” McDougald said. “Brooks didn’t pitch a bad ballgame. They just had some timely hits. It was good execution at the plate on their end.”
D.J. Johnson led off the game with a long double. Parker Nix followed with an RBI triple. Palmer Betts capped the inning with a three-run dinger.
“It does have a tendency to take the wind out of your sails a little bit,” said McDougald, referring to the early 5-0 deficit.
Despite the tough opening inning, Woodward was solid over the next four, allowing just one hit, the solo home run to Cowart in the third inning.
“We went more offspeed. Really, that was kind of the gameplan to begin with. Even in the first inning, they had some good hits on some pretty good pitches,” McDougald said.
Cook capped the rout with three runs in the sixth on three straight singles by Austin Steel, Johnson and Nix.
Thomasville returns to the field today with a home game against Atkinson County.
