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Duncan tosses no-hitter as Alcovy Tigers sweep Jonesboro Cardinals
Cooper Duncan
Duncan pitched seven innings of no-hit ball against the Cardinals. The junior struck out 14 batters. - photo by Garrett Pitts

JONESBORO, Ga. — With the Tigers fighting for a playoff spot, Cooper Duncan delivered with a no-hitter over Jonesboro.

The Tigers came away with a 9-2 win on  the road against the Cardinals Friday. Both of Jonesboro’s runs were a result of an Alcovy error.

Cooper pitched the complete game for the Tigers. The junior went seven innings and allowed just one earned run on hits.

To go along with the no-hitter, Duncan struck out a season-high 14 batters in the contest.

Alcovy head coach Kareem Haytes had a glowing review of Duncan’s performance on Friday.

“Cooper’s no hitter shows the hard work that he put in all year and the way his season has been going,” Hayes said. “He was locating and hitting his spots all night, keeping hitters off balance. We played good defense behind him making his job a little bit easier just trusting those guys behind him. He was not trying to come out [of] the game. When he went back out for that last inning he had a look in his eyes that showed he was going to complete that task. Complete team effort all around to get that major accomplishment completed.”

Duncan’s excellence went beyond the mound. At the plate, Duncan went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs.

In the opening frame, the Tigers jumped out to a 5-0 lead.

After a leadoff single from Reece Payne, Duncan drove him in to score the game’s first run. In the next at-bat, Brandon Scott laced an RBI single into center field to extend the Tigers’ lead to 2-0.

Following an RBI knock from Luke Rosser, Kris Ross and Jonathan Andrews drove in two more runs on a double and ground out, respectively.

The first Jonesboro run came in the bottom of the first. After a leadoff walk, Isiah Osby III drove in the runner on an RBI groundout.

In the top of the second, Alcovy added on two more runs on base hits from Scott and Rosser to extend the Tigers’ lead to 7-1.

The Cardinals’ second run of the game came in the bottom of the third. After an error from Ross allowed the leadoff man to reach base, a second error from CJ Salmon behind the plate allowed the unearned run to score.

Alcovy tacked on runs in the fourth and fifth innings on RBI hits from Rosser and Duncan.

In the bottom of the seventh, Duncan struck out the side on 10 pitches to get the complete game win with a no-hitter.

Outside of Duncan, the Tigers were led by Rosser, who had a 3-for-4 day with three RBIs.

Alcovy sits in third place in Region 3-AAAAAA, behind Woodward Academy (first place, 20-7) and Rockdale County (second place, 15-5)

Following its road contest against Morrow on Monday, April 15, Alcovy will finish the season with three consecutive region matchups. 

The Tigers will play at Rockdale County on Wednesday, April 17 and against Mundy’s Mill on Thursday, April 18. Alcovy closes the regular season at Forest Park on Saturday, April 20.