Mortimer Jordan head baseball coach Shayne Carnes prior to securing his sixth win of the season on Monday night. The Blue Devils came away on top of a 5-3 conflict with Corner in the Jefferson County Tournament. 

KIMBERLY — Mortimer Jordan (6-5) grabbed an early lead on Monday night and rode it all the way to a 5-3 victory over visiting Corner (4-3) in the Jefferson County Tournament.

The Blue Devils made the most of their six hits and took advantage of some defensive miscues on the other side to capture the first home win of a young season.

Mortimer Jordan starter Patrick Burkett worked his team out of a bases-loaded jam in the top-half of the first frame. The righty closed the door on Corner’s opportunity with a pair of strikeouts, the second of which was a breaking ball that froze Taylor McCormack, and sent the Blue Devils to the dish with no score.

“(Burkett) did an outstanding job,” said Mortimer Jordan head coach Shayne Carnes. “He competed on the mound and he battled out of some tough situations and I couldn’t be more proud of the effort he gave us tonight on the mound.”

From there, a leadoff walk by Garek Hall followed by a hit batter gave the hosts a ripe opportunity to get on the scoreboard. Nick Overton chopped a grounder into a Yellow Jacket error that sent two runs across in the first inning to claim a 2-0 lead.

Burkett threw five innings for Carnes, allowing no earned runs, three strikeouts and two walks. Senior Austin Shivers threw the final two innings of the contest.

With its defense holding strong, Mortimer Jordan continued applying offensive pressure and it didn’t take long for Joseph McCleney to help pad that early lead. The senior delivered a two-out RBI that never reached the right field grass. With the bases full, McCleney legged out a slow roller to second, increasing the lead to three runs.

“Tonight, I thought we played with a lot of emotion and a lot of intensity, which we haven’t been doing so I was glad to see that,” said Carnes.

The Blue Devils kept their distance and controlled most of the game, but Corner made some noise in the seventh inning. Facing a four-run deficit, Caleb Edwards started the seventh with a walk and was later called home by Sam Knowlton’s towering home run that squeezed inside the left field foul poll.

That blast (Knowlton’s only hit of the night) ended the scoring at 5-3.

Corner’s first run of the game crossed via throwing error in the fifth inning. Devne Daniel finished the game 2-for-4 from the plate.

For Mortimer Jordan, Hall posted a 2-for-2 evening with a walk while McCleney finished 2-for-3 from the plate. John Singley reached on three walks.

The Blue Devils are back in action on Tuesday when they host Center Point at 4:30 p.m. Corner is scheduled to visit Clay-Chalkville in the same time slot.

Erik Harris is the Sports Editor of The North Jefferson News. Email him at njnsports@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @jeharris2.