By: Adam Freeman
The Mt. Lions’ 2026 baseball season came to an end last week in Baker, WV, at the hands of East Hardy High School. Tucker started the week with a home loss to the Paw Paw Pirates. The Mt. Lions were ahead 4-3 at the end of the third inning, but the Pirates would score four runs to start the fourth to take the lead, 7-4, and would never surrender it again on their way to beating the Mt. Lions 16-11. Tucker struggled a bit at the plate, with no batter reaching double figures in hits. Owen Bolyard, Josh Crossland, Owen Helmick, Liam Gilligan, and Zane Carr all collected a single hit. Tucker would then wait for the loser of Paw Paw and East Hardy, with the Cougars winning the matchup. TCHS was slated for another matchup with Paw Paw. The Pirates decided it was best to forfeit the matchup, therefore setting up a showdown of the big cats in the regional finals. Tucker would travel to East Hardy on Wednesday, the 20th. Tucker was only down 1-0 after the first and just 3-0 after the second inning. The third inning saw the Cougars cross home plate four times, then six more in the fourth inning to shut out Tucker 13-0. Tucker faced three separate pitchers from East Hardy but was not able to get the bat on the ball against any of them. With the loss, the Mt. Lions’ season concluded with an overall record of 2-18. Tucker says goodbye to a handful of seniors but returns the majority of the roster as they set their sights on 2027.
