After defeating Harlan County in two games in a row, the Middlesboro Yellow Jackets extended their winning streak to three on Monday when they traveled to Washburn, Tenn. Middlesboro sank the Pirates, 15-7 in five innings.

“I thought we did a really good job on the bats today,” said coach John Smith. “We did a good job of putting the ball in play and giving ourselves a chance to score some runs. I thought we got a little sluggish when we started to gain a bigger lead. We let their way back into the game near the tail-end of it, but we did a good job of closing the game out and not losing our composure.”

Lane Perry stepped in the box and delivered a two-RBI double, thanks to an error in right field, bringing the score to 2-0 in favor of the Jackets in the first inning.

Elkins delivered a single to lead-off in the second, followed by two quick runs from the Jackets to extend their lead to 4-0. Ausmus was walked to first before being driven to second by a Callihan single. Lane Perry flew-out to center field to retire the side.

Hegen Owens got things going in the third inning by being walked. A single by Stephen Justice allowed Owens to make it to second, leaving two runners on base. An RBI double from Elkins, widened the gap between the Pirates and Jackets to 5-0 in favor of Middlesboro.

The Jackets tallied three more runs in the top of the third inning to extend their lead to 8-0 before the Pirates managed three runs in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to five (8-3).

The Pirates held the potent Jacket offense by limiting them to two runs in the fourth through sixth innings, allowing themselves to fight back into the game with a four-run sixth inning to narrow the lead to 10-7.

The Yellow Jacket defense shut the Pirates down in the final inning, allowing zero runs and scoring an additional five runs of their own to secure the eight-run victory.

“I thought Hegen Owens did a great job on the mound for us tonight,” said Smith. “This is his first varsity start, and I thought he did a good job for us. We hit the ball well, and ran bases pretty well for most of the night. There are still a few minor errors that I’d like to get cleaned up as soon as possible, but it seems like things are starting to click for us.”

With the win, the Yellow Jackets extended their winning streak to three games and improved to 5-7 on the season ahead of their match-ups against Harlan on Thursday and Friday.

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Middlesboro (5-7) 224 101 5 — 15

Washburn 003 004 0 — 7