| In his more than two decades as head coach at Madison Central, Steve Roof has witnessed a lot of impressive individual performances. However, what Kannon Cook delivered on Wednesday in the championship game of the 44th District Tournament left him almost speechless. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen (anything) like that,” Roof said. |  |
Cook — a sophomore — was 3-for-3 with two home runs, a triple, nine RBI and scored three times as the Indians (24-11) beat Madison Southern (17-14), 11-1, in five innings. The victory gave the Indians their seventh-straight district title.
Both teams advance to the 11th Region Tournament next week.
Cook had two homers during the regular season, but cleared the fence twice at Eastern Kentucky University’s Turkey Hughes Field in Richmond.
He homered in the first and third innings — both to left field. In second inning, the sophomore tried to call time, but when it was not given by the home plate umpire, he ripped a bases-clearing line drive into the gap.
“The pitcher was set for a couple of seconds. I wasn’t feeling it,” Cook said. “They didn’t give it to me, so I ripped a shot.”
Cook’s nine RBI are tied for the seventh-most in a game in state history — according to Kentucky High School Athletic Association stats.
“That’s a lot of RBIs,” Roof said with a laugh.
Cook’s offensive explosion was more than an enough run support for a pair of senior pitchers.
Logan Cobb pitched the first three innings, allowing two hits and one run with two walks and three strikeouts.
“We came out with energy,” Cobb said. “We got some runs early and that made it easy.”
Ben Murphy worked the final two innings, allowing only one hit.
“We wanted this bad and I knew we were going to win,” Murphy said.
Aiden Masters was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Nick Pietromonaco was 2-for-3 and scored twice. Will Richardson was 1-for-3 with two walks and scored three times.
By: Nathan Hutchinson
