Whiteoak hustles past Mustangs for 12th SHAC win
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
DODSONVILLE — Hustle and accuracy … along with timely hitting in the first inning all added up for the Whiteoak Wildcats once again this season, winning over Highland County rival Lynchburg-Clay, 6-3, in a game that had one of the most unique endings to a game in recent memory for either team.
The final out of the game, where the Mustangs were in a rally, came as the Wildcats perfected the unusual 7-2-1 out at the plate.
The play itself was full of small details as LC had the bases loaded with two outs and the tying run at the plate in Ryan Inman. Inman singled to left field to score Alex Pinkerton from third. As Pinkerton crossed home plate, Josh Bauer raced from second to third, while WHS left fielder Blake Trueblood launched the ball to WHS catcher Jason Jones. Jones, looking to get the third out, attempted to catch Inman off the bag at first base, racing down the first base line.
In the meantime, Bauer, who was at third base by this time, was sent home as Jones started to run toward first. Out of nowhere, instead of diving at first base, Jones, who said he heard his team yelling to throw it home, in catcher gear and all, did his best Derek Jeter throwing impression as he jumped and spun toward home, throwing the ball to pitcher Luke Taggert, who tagged out the LC runner at home for the final out.
An ending fans of baseball don't see very often, if ever.
On a side note, Jones was also the leading hitter for WHS, going 3-for-4 as WHS improved to 12-0 in the SHAC and 15-5 overall. The loss sends LC to 5-10 overall and 4-5 in the conference.
"The bus ride to Lynchburg was a little quieter than normal," WHS head coach Chris Veidt said. "Coming into the game, it had a championship mentality because we were playing Lynchburg, and this is a game nobody likes to lose.
"If you don't win this game, you'll never forget it."
Veidt also spoke about how again, it was a senior who came up big for WHS.
"Blake was great in left field for us," he said. "He threw a runner out at the plate earlier in the game, and then he threw it home to sent up that final sequence of events that ended the game. (Thursday) all of his hard work paid off."
In that aforementioned seventh inning, the host Mustangs scored two runs, cutting their deficit to three runs as they entered the inning trailing by five runs at 6-1. The two LC runs were scored by Christian Inman, who singled to lead off the inning, and Pinkerton, who was a pinch runner for Kendall Vilvens, who initially took first on an infield error. Inman scored on a base hit to centerfield by Bauer.
Before the wacky seventh, the Wildcats played the game at their pace in the top of the first, scoring three times, sending seven batters to the plate.
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Taggert (2-for-4) began the game with a double to the outfield and took second on a five-pitch walk forced by Zach Docter. The bases were loaded on a five-pitch walk by Jesse Bradds.
Two of the runners raced home when Tyler Williams sent the ball to left-centerfield on the first pitch, scoring Taggert and Docter.
Kyle Marler, in the ensuing at-bat, batted in Bradds from third on a ground out to second, on a 3-2 count, for the 3-0 lead.
"Tyler was big at the plate for us," Veidt said.
The next three runs by WHS scored in the top part of the fifth with Docter leading off with a base hit. He stole second and took third on an error. Docter scored on a single to shallow centerfield by Gage Carraher (2-for-4) for the four-run lead.
One out later, Carraher scored on a sacrifice fly to centerfield by Williams for his third RBI of the game and a five-run WHS lead. The sixth Wildcat run was scored by Marler, who took home on an infield error.
Also gaining multiple hits for WHS was Tyler Roberts, finishing 2-for-3.
Lynchburg-Clay scored their first run in the sixth with Ryan Inman scoring on a fielder's choice to second base. The RBI went to Morgan Ryan.
Gage Waits and Ryan Inman led LC at the plate, with the junior duo each going 2-for-4. Also gaining hits were Chaz Lanier and Vilvens.
"The thing about Whiteoak is they hustle," LC head coach Garyn Waits said. "If we want to win the game, or any game, we have to hustle. We have to make our own breaks, and that's what Whiteoak does, and that's why they win the close games.
"We did turn up the energy in the seventh, and that was good to see, but with Whiteoak … and I respect this about them … they hit a fly ball to the outfield, they are hustling to second base whether it is a normal fly ball or not. That's how you win the tight games."
Taggert was the winning pitcher, going all seven innings. The senior allowed three runs (one earned) on eight hits and one walk, while striking out eight.
The loss went to Cory Snider. The freshman allowed six earned runs on 10 hits and two walks, as he finished with four strikeouts in five innings. Scott Cawood pitched in relief for two innings. The senior allowed no runs on two hits and one walk with one strikeout.
WHS will host a doubleheader on Saturday, the final games played before the postseason tournament draw. On Monday, the Wildcats will face Valley, then on Tuesday, WHS will host Manchester in SHAC play. If WHS defeats the visiting Greyhounds, they will clinch a perfect conference season.
The Mustangs will play again on Saturday as they face Georgetown in a doubleheader at GHS.
The final out of the game, where the Mustangs were in a rally, came as the Wildcats perfected the unusual 7-2-1 out at the plate.
The play itself was full of small details as LC had the bases loaded with two outs and the tying run at the plate in Ryan Inman. Inman singled to left field to score Alex Pinkerton from third. As Pinkerton crossed home plate, Josh Bauer raced from second to third, while WHS left fielder Blake Trueblood launched the ball to WHS catcher Jason Jones. Jones, looking to get the third out, attempted to catch Inman off the bag at first base, racing down the first base line.
In the meantime, Bauer, who was at third base by this time, was sent home as Jones started to run toward first. Out of nowhere, instead of diving at first base, Jones, who said he heard his team yelling to throw it home, in catcher gear and all, did his best Derek Jeter throwing impression as he jumped and spun toward home, throwing the ball to pitcher Luke Taggert, who tagged out the LC runner at home for the final out.
An ending fans of baseball don't see very often, if ever.
On a side note, Jones was also the leading hitter for WHS, going 3-for-4 as WHS improved to 12-0 in the SHAC and 15-5 overall. The loss sends LC to 5-10 overall and 4-5 in the conference.
"The bus ride to Lynchburg was a little quieter than normal," WHS head coach Chris Veidt said. "Coming into the game, it had a championship mentality because we were playing Lynchburg, and this is a game nobody likes to lose.
"If you don't win this game, you'll never forget it."
Veidt also spoke about how again, it was a senior who came up big for WHS.
"Blake was great in left field for us," he said. "He threw a runner out at the plate earlier in the game, and then he threw it home to sent up that final sequence of events that ended the game. (Thursday) all of his hard work paid off."
In that aforementioned seventh inning, the host Mustangs scored two runs, cutting their deficit to three runs as they entered the inning trailing by five runs at 6-1. The two LC runs were scored by Christian Inman, who singled to lead off the inning, and Pinkerton, who was a pinch runner for Kendall Vilvens, who initially took first on an infield error. Inman scored on a base hit to centerfield by Bauer.
Before the wacky seventh, the Wildcats played the game at their pace in the top of the first, scoring three times, sending seven batters to the plate.
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Taggert (2-for-4) began the game with a double to the outfield and took second on a five-pitch walk forced by Zach Docter. The bases were loaded on a five-pitch walk by Jesse Bradds.
Two of the runners raced home when Tyler Williams sent the ball to left-centerfield on the first pitch, scoring Taggert and Docter.
Kyle Marler, in the ensuing at-bat, batted in Bradds from third on a ground out to second, on a 3-2 count, for the 3-0 lead.
"Tyler was big at the plate for us," Veidt said.
The next three runs by WHS scored in the top part of the fifth with Docter leading off with a base hit. He stole second and took third on an error. Docter scored on a single to shallow centerfield by Gage Carraher (2-for-4) for the four-run lead.
One out later, Carraher scored on a sacrifice fly to centerfield by Williams for his third RBI of the game and a five-run WHS lead. The sixth Wildcat run was scored by Marler, who took home on an infield error.
Also gaining multiple hits for WHS was Tyler Roberts, finishing 2-for-3.
Lynchburg-Clay scored their first run in the sixth with Ryan Inman scoring on a fielder's choice to second base. The RBI went to Morgan Ryan.
Gage Waits and Ryan Inman led LC at the plate, with the junior duo each going 2-for-4. Also gaining hits were Chaz Lanier and Vilvens.
"The thing about Whiteoak is they hustle," LC head coach Garyn Waits said. "If we want to win the game, or any game, we have to hustle. We have to make our own breaks, and that's what Whiteoak does, and that's why they win the close games.
"We did turn up the energy in the seventh, and that was good to see, but with Whiteoak … and I respect this about them … they hit a fly ball to the outfield, they are hustling to second base whether it is a normal fly ball or not. That's how you win the tight games."
Taggert was the winning pitcher, going all seven innings. The senior allowed three runs (one earned) on eight hits and one walk, while striking out eight.
The loss went to Cory Snider. The freshman allowed six earned runs on 10 hits and two walks, as he finished with four strikeouts in five innings. Scott Cawood pitched in relief for two innings. The senior allowed no runs on two hits and one walk with one strikeout.
WHS will host a doubleheader on Saturday, the final games played before the postseason tournament draw. On Monday, the Wildcats will face Valley, then on Tuesday, WHS will host Manchester in SHAC play. If WHS defeats the visiting Greyhounds, they will clinch a perfect conference season.
The Mustangs will play again on Saturday as they face Georgetown in a doubleheader at GHS.