Veidt earns win No. 300 in Wildcats' victory over Cedarville
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN — For 23 years, Whiteoak baseball head coach Chris Veidt has seen it all at the helm of the Wildcats.
In those two-plus decades of high school baseball, Veidt's teams have won and lost probably every way possible, but Saturday's 6-4 non-conference win over the Cedarville Indians at WHS was a win that was 23 years in the making, as the Wildcats rallied in the bottom of the sixth inning for five runs to give their head coach his 300th career victory.
The 300th win with Veidt at the helm was announced over the loudspeaker by public address announcer Bob McClain, as Veidt said during his interview following the win, "I didn't think this many people knew about it."
With the Wildcats moving to 3-0 on the 2014 season in Veidt's 300th career coaching win, he pushed away all the credit of the wins from himself and praised his family, players and the Whiteoak fans.
[[In-content Ad]]"I'm not good at talking about myself. The people who should be most proud of the honor are my wife and daughter for their support.
"My opportunity to be here and to coach some very good players … if I didn't have (assistant coach) D.J. O'Cull here with me, this wouldn't have happened."
Veidt continued to praise those who have helped him throughout the years.
"Just the support I've had at Whiteoak from day one, trusting me to do what I wanted to do within reason, I've been very fortunate. It's not just about me, it is about a lot of people.
"I've been fortunate to have great players and good teams, because it is nine vs. nine out there, not just about one person."
The WHS head coach did have one final comment about the day and accomplishment with a very special thank-you.
"I would be remiss if I didn't mention my parents, because they always kept my head on straight, but at the same time they always gave me enough leash to make mistakes on my own," an emotional Veidt said.
"I'm very appreciative of that, but it is a hard thing for me to talk about emotionally because I'm not the one who won the games. I'm glad I'm here and I'm glad I'm coaching these guys and the guys I've had in the past … it is an honor. The kids here are smart and tough and that's all you need to be successful.
"I've been very fortunate to be here 23 years."
To get that win, it came down to the aforementioned sixth-inning rally where the Wildcats scored those five runs, going from trailing by a 4-1 deficit to a 6-4 lead.
The milestone-making inning began with Nick Wardlow and Tyler Williams each being hit by a pitch to give them runners on first and second.
Jason Jones followed with an infield base hit that sat just in front of the batters box to load the bases.
Then the runs started to pour in for the host Wildcats.
Kyle Marler singled through the middle of the infield, past second base, scoring both Wardlow and Williams, cutting the Indians' lead to 4-3.
Steven Meyers followed with a line drive past third base to score Jones, tying the score at 4-4 with no outs.
After the first out was recorded, Jacob Burns singled to shallow centerfield to reload the bases.
Another hit-by-pitch came back to haunt the visiting Indians where Justin Emery was hit by a pitch, earning him an RBI, scoring Marler to put WHS in the lead at 5-4.
For insurance, the Wildcats added one last run with Spencer Michael grounding out to the shortstop to plate Meyers.
"That inning was big," Veidt said. "We started off the inning well, getting guys on first and second. We get down two strikes, and with Steven down 0-2, he gets the big hit down the left field line.
"We waited a while to do it, and until that inning, we hadn't been that patient at the plate, but in that last inning they had 29 pitches, so it was good to see that patience in the sixth."
The winning pitcher was Wardlow, who threw 111 pitches. Burns pitched the final inning for the save.
"We've been looking for a third guy for conference games. Nick struggled in scrimmages, but he pitched a nice game," Veidt said. "In terms of things he could control ... he was."
In those two-plus decades of high school baseball, Veidt's teams have won and lost probably every way possible, but Saturday's 6-4 non-conference win over the Cedarville Indians at WHS was a win that was 23 years in the making, as the Wildcats rallied in the bottom of the sixth inning for five runs to give their head coach his 300th career victory.
The 300th win with Veidt at the helm was announced over the loudspeaker by public address announcer Bob McClain, as Veidt said during his interview following the win, "I didn't think this many people knew about it."
With the Wildcats moving to 3-0 on the 2014 season in Veidt's 300th career coaching win, he pushed away all the credit of the wins from himself and praised his family, players and the Whiteoak fans.
[[In-content Ad]]"I'm not good at talking about myself. The people who should be most proud of the honor are my wife and daughter for their support.
"My opportunity to be here and to coach some very good players … if I didn't have (assistant coach) D.J. O'Cull here with me, this wouldn't have happened."
Veidt continued to praise those who have helped him throughout the years.
"Just the support I've had at Whiteoak from day one, trusting me to do what I wanted to do within reason, I've been very fortunate. It's not just about me, it is about a lot of people.
"I've been fortunate to have great players and good teams, because it is nine vs. nine out there, not just about one person."
The WHS head coach did have one final comment about the day and accomplishment with a very special thank-you.
"I would be remiss if I didn't mention my parents, because they always kept my head on straight, but at the same time they always gave me enough leash to make mistakes on my own," an emotional Veidt said.
"I'm very appreciative of that, but it is a hard thing for me to talk about emotionally because I'm not the one who won the games. I'm glad I'm here and I'm glad I'm coaching these guys and the guys I've had in the past … it is an honor. The kids here are smart and tough and that's all you need to be successful.
"I've been very fortunate to be here 23 years."
To get that win, it came down to the aforementioned sixth-inning rally where the Wildcats scored those five runs, going from trailing by a 4-1 deficit to a 6-4 lead.
The milestone-making inning began with Nick Wardlow and Tyler Williams each being hit by a pitch to give them runners on first and second.
Jason Jones followed with an infield base hit that sat just in front of the batters box to load the bases.
Then the runs started to pour in for the host Wildcats.
Kyle Marler singled through the middle of the infield, past second base, scoring both Wardlow and Williams, cutting the Indians' lead to 4-3.
Steven Meyers followed with a line drive past third base to score Jones, tying the score at 4-4 with no outs.
After the first out was recorded, Jacob Burns singled to shallow centerfield to reload the bases.
Another hit-by-pitch came back to haunt the visiting Indians where Justin Emery was hit by a pitch, earning him an RBI, scoring Marler to put WHS in the lead at 5-4.
For insurance, the Wildcats added one last run with Spencer Michael grounding out to the shortstop to plate Meyers.
"That inning was big," Veidt said. "We started off the inning well, getting guys on first and second. We get down two strikes, and with Steven down 0-2, he gets the big hit down the left field line.
"We waited a while to do it, and until that inning, we hadn't been that patient at the plate, but in that last inning they had 29 pitches, so it was good to see that patience in the sixth."
The winning pitcher was Wardlow, who threw 111 pitches. Burns pitched the final inning for the save.
"We've been looking for a third guy for conference games. Nick struggled in scrimmages, but he pitched a nice game," Veidt said. "In terms of things he could control ... he was."