Courier Sports Report
Wednesday, June 13, 2012 4:13 am

Lions pitcher Nathan McGuire threw three innings of no-hit ball to help lead the 16-under team to a win in league action last week. (TONY STINNETT photo)

The Lions’ 16-under summer baseball team used dominant pitching, solid defense and continued strong hitting to roll to three wins in the Murfreesboro Baseball Association Premier League last week.

The Lions, which is comprised of Cannon County’s rising freshmen, sophomores and one junior, outscored their three foes 36-3 in the three games, including back-to-back shutouts in the final two games of the week.

The Lions, who are the only remaining undefeated team in the eight-team league, improved to 6-0 in league play and 8-0 overall.

“The players keep improving and they are playing with a great deal of confidence,” Lions coach Adam Sauer said. “We received outstanding pitching throughout the week but the guys are playing well in all phases of the game. The big thing is they are getting to play and improve their game and that is the focus of our summer program.”

Lions 13, Cougars 3

Nathan McGuire, Austin Martin, Graden Strang and Jared Judkins all had multi-hit games as the Lions roared to a 13-3 win against Christiana to start the week. McGuire was 3-for-3 with a triple, two doubles and five RBI, and Martin was 3-for-3 with a double and three RBI. Strang was 2-for-3 with a double and four RBI and Judkins was 2-for-3 as the Lions put together a strong hitting display.

After a scoreless first inning the Lions scored 10 in the second when they send 14 batters to the plate.

Martin pitched three strong innings to notch his first win of the summer.

Lions 13, Ravens 0

McGuire and Martin combined for a no-hitter as the Lions put together another strong performance.

McGuire pitched three innings of no-hit ball before Martin came aboard to complete the strong pitching exhibition.

The Lions had several hitting standouts but the highlight of the game was back-to-back-to-back triples from Trent Bragg, Graden Strang and Jackson Mason to help break the game open.

Martin added an inside-the-park home run, Judkins had two hits and Bailey Hale executed a perfect squeeze play to plate another run.

Lions 8, Rays 0

Strang blanked the Rays for three innings and McGuire perserved the shutout in relief as the Lions pitching continued to dominate league opposition.

Jake Todd, Cole Barnes and Trent Bragg had solid performances and Turner Gragg reached base twice.

Judkins, Strang, Bragg, Mason and Martin all had run-producing hits for the Lions.

The Lions will play one league game this week when they face the Braves at Barfield Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Lions will play in the BPA Summer Baseball Classic during the weekend in Murfreesboro.