Ruling Class

Andrew Arnold needed asbestos batting gloves

to grip his molten-hot war club.

 RE-CAP   Fresh off of an impressive out-of-town tournament championship in which they notched three out of four victories via the run rule, the Louisville Longhorns returned home for their fifth Beechmont 12U Competitive League regular season contest and picked up right where they left off, run-ruling the Prairie Village Legends 10-1 in five innings on Wednesday night. The ’Horns have now won 9 of their last 11 games via the run rule and have reached double-digit scoring totals in 10 of the last 12 tilts. With tallies in all four of the frames in which they came to bat against the Legends, the club has also now put at least one marker up on the scoreboard in 17 of the last 20 innings. The only thing rivaling those apple-knocking numbers has been the primo pitching performances of the Longhorn orb-tossers, with Wednesday evening’s contest marking the seventh time in the last 11 games that the stingy slab staff has allowed nothing more than a single run.

Starting pitcher Casey Simon eyes a base runner

—seconds before picking him off.

 MIDWEEK MISSIVES   Africa Hot: After an 8-for-11, 8 RBI showing in Nashville, Andrew Arnold’s bat continued to be hotter than a Serengeti summer, as the Longhorn clean-up clouter went 3-for-3 with a 3-run seeya-shot and 4 RBIs... Easy As 1-2-3: In the final inning, Arnold traded in his bastinado for a ball and glove, climbed the hill and retired the side in order—on just 7 pitches—to nail down the victory... Missed It by That Much... Matthew Higgins just missed hitting his 8th yard-leaver, yanking a ball over the right field fence, perhaps two or three feet foul... Simply Smashing: But it did shatter the windshield of the SUV belonging to the father of the Legends’ shortstop... Double Helping: Higgins added a pair of two-baggers to his ever-increasing 2011 season extra base hit total...  Two Good: Brendan Koester rocketed an RBI double over the left fielder’s head in the second inning, his second two-cushion shot of the season... The Bryce is Right: With two hits and a walk, Bryce Elmore has now reached base safely in his last six times at bat... Driving Home His Point: Nicholas Parrish’s productive evening included a base hit, a sacrifice fly and two runs driven in... Prime Pickins: In addition to limiting the Legends to a single run on 5 hits over 4 innings, starting chucker Casey Simon picked two ill-fated runners off first base.

Ryan Hamilton gears up for his second inning base knock.