State-ranked Mustangs baseball earn 4 wins this week; win rivalry game at Whiteoak

MOWRYSTOWN — Though the Division V No. 5 state-ranked Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs have already clinched the Division I Southern Hills Athletic Conference championship, they still have two more games in conference play in their pursuit of perfection. 

That path went a long way this week as they won three games in SHAC action and four games total as their Friday game against Fairfield was a non-conference contest that was added to the schedule later in the week. 

LCHS earned a big SHAC win on Thursday as Quin Wells pitched another strong game, as this most recent one was a 13-1 LCHS win over rival Whiteoak at Chris Veidt Field at Whiteoak High School. 

WHS finished the game with four hits and four errors and walked seven batters. 

“Unfortunately for them, that is part of the game of baseball,” LCHS head coach James Flowers said of LCHS taking advantage of WHS miscues. “They are coached well. They are playing really well for a young team, obviously, they are at the top of Division II in the league (SHAC), but they do a good job. 

“Tonight they had a few miscues and we had some timely hitting and were able to find some gaps and consistently score throughout the game. We only had one inning where we didn’t score a run, and if you can do that every inning throughout the game, you are going to be hard to beat.”

WHS head coach Chris Veidt spoke about the miscues of his team on Thursday, as his team is now 8-3 in the SHAC Div. II standings (first place) and 10-9 overall. 

“Bottom line is you are playing the No. 5 team in the state in Division V and nine runs scored were the result of a walk or hit by pitch, and the 10th one was the result of an error that we had picked off in the seventh and that’s the result of the game, and you can’t do that,” WHS head coach Chris Veidt said. “Honestly, I felt like offensively we were OK against a quality arm, and we weren’t ourselves totally defensively. It was a C-minus, and you can’t do that against anybody, let alone them. 

“Unfortunately, it is a very easy analysis tonight, and hopefully I won’t ever have to make it again.” 

LCHS scored runs in all but one inning as their 13-run, 13-hit game saw the Mustangs score two runs in the top of the first, followed by a run in the second, and in the third inning the Mustangs scored another run for a 4-1 lead as WHS scored their lone run in the bottom of the second inning. 

The Mustangs scored two runs in the top of the fourth inning, and then they added four runs in the top of the seventh. 

Along with their 13 hits, LCHS had one error, while Whiteoak totaled four hits and had four errors. 

Harley Lewis finished with a three-hit game at 3-for-4 with one run, two RBI, a triple and two steals. 

Max Baker was 2-for-5 with two RBI, and teammate Kristian Beachy went 2-for-4 with two runs, four RBI and a walk. 

Aric Slack also had a two-hit game at 2-for-3 with two runs, one RBI, a walk and a steal. Wells finished 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBI, a triple, one HBP and two steals. 

LCHS saw Aiden Bene go 1-for-4 with a run and a steal. Tanner Roberts finished 1-for-4 with a run, a double and a walk. Caden Boone walked once, while Luke Davis scored a run and collected a steal. 

Elam Faust scored three runs, walked twice and was hit by a pitch. Trevor Niehaus collected an RBI and hit a sacrifice fly. 

“Coming into the season I might have been concerned about our bats and how we would do at the plate, but they have been coming alive the past few games, and we aren’t just hitting the ball,” Flowers said. “Even when we are getting out, we are hitting the ball hard, and I’ll take that all day. We are right where we need to be at the right time of the year.”

Wells’ day on the mound was strong as he pitched a complete game (seven innings) with one earned run on four hits and no walks with 10 strikeouts. 

“Anytime you give Quin the game ball, he is ready to go,” Flowers said. “I can’t say enough, he fills it up, he competes on every pitch and does what Quin does.”

The Wildcats totaled four hits with Caden Butler finishing 1-for-1 with one HBP and two steals. Abe Flader was 1-for-3, while teammate Jacob Kiley was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Jonah Michael finished 1-for-3 with one run and a double.

Karson Arey pitched for WHS where he had three strikeouts in four innings. Gabe Michael pitched three innings with one strikeout. 

LCHS has two conference games left with an 11-0 mark in the SHAC Division I standings. 

“We have Fayetteville and Ripley left to work to have a second consecutive perfect season, and that was one of the goals coming into the season to see if we could get that done again. We are on track to do that, and I like where we are at, but I am just happy to get a league win, and I’m taking it one game at a time,” Flowers said. 

BOX SCORE
LCHS    211 203 4 — 13 13 1 
WHS    010 000 0 — 1 4 4 

Before their win on Thursday, the Mustangs faced the North Adams Green Devils at home for a 9-0 win on Monday in SHAC play. 

LCHS scored one run in the bottom of the first, followed by a seven-run third and one run in the fourth for what was the nine-run win. 

In their 10-hit game, LCHS had Elam Faust finish 2-for-3 with one run, one RBI and three steals. Trevor Niehaus was 2-for-3 with one run, one RBI and three steals. 

Quin Wells ended the game at 2-for-3 with two runs, one RBI and three steals. 

Max Baker finished 1-for-2 with one run, one RBI and a triple. Kristian Beachy was 1-for-2 with one RBI and a walk. Tanner Roberts finished 1-for-3 with two RBI, a triple and a steal. Aric Slack was 1-for-2 with a run, one RBI and he collected a steal. 

Caden Boone scored a run, walked once and had a steal. Luke Davis had one run, while teammate Harley Lewis scored a run, walked once and stole two bases. 

Roberts was the winning pitcher, as he went five innings, allowing no runs on four hits and four walks with seven strikeouts. 

BOX SCORE
NAHS    000 00x x — 0 1 1 
LCHS    107 1xx x — 9 10 1

Lynchburg-Clay gained another SHAC win on Tuesday, April 28 when they defeated the Peebles Indians, 11-1 in six innings at LCHS. 

It was a score of 2-1 after the first inning with the Mustangs holding on to the one-run lead. Then came a five-run bottom of the second for a 7-1 score. The final four runs scored by the Mustangs came in the bottom of the sixth with four runs crossing the plate for a 10-run win after six innings played. 

The Mustangs totaled eight hits and had one error, while PHS finished with four hits and six errors. 

For LCHS, Max Baker was 2-for-3 with one run, one RBI and a double. Harley Lewis finished 2-for-3 with a run, one RBI, a triple and a walk.

Kristian Beachy went 1-for-3 with two RBI and a walk. Tanner Roberts finished 1-for-3 with two runs, one RBI, one triple, a walk and two steals. Aric Slack was 1-for-3 with a run and one RBI. Quin Wells was 1-for-2 with two runs, one RBI, a walk, a sacrifice fly and two steals. 

Aiden Bene ended with one run, a walk and a steal. Caden Boone forced a walk, and Luke Davis had one steal, while Elam Faust finished with two runs, one RBI, one walk and four steals. Trevor Niehaus totaled one run, a walk and two steals. 

Beachy was the winning pitcher as he threw all six innings, allowing no earned runs on four hits and four walks with six strikeouts. 

BOX SCORE
PHS    100 000 x — 1 4 6 
LCHS    250 004 x — 11 8 1 

Friday (May 1) the Mustangs defeated the Fairfield Lions in a non-conference game between the two SHAC teams, winning by a 12-3 score at Fairfield High School. 

The Mustangs (11-0, 15-3) scored two runs in the top of the first inning, then FHS tied the score at 2-2 with a two-run bottom of the second inning. LCHS came back with one run in the top of the third, followed with three runs in the fourth, and a three-run fifth inning. 

The Lions came back with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning, and LCHS scored three final runs in the top of the seventh. 

It was a 10-hit game for the Mustangs with one error, while FHS collected five hits and had three errors. 

Elam Faust led Lynchburg-Clay with a 3-for-5 day at the plate with three runs, one RBI and four steals. 

Quin Wells was 2-for-4 with one run, two RBI, a HBP and he had two steals. Kristian Beachy finished 2-for-4 with two RBI, a double and a HBP.

Aric Slack was 2-for-4 with three runs, one RBI and two steals. 

Tanner Roberts finished 1-for-4 with two RBI, one walk and a double. 

Also for LCHS, Harley Lewis forced a walk, Max Baker forced a walk along with a steal. Tristin Puckett scored a run, had a steal and walked once. Aiden Bene also scored a run, had two steals and walked once. Luke Davis finished with two runs, one walk and two steals. Caden Boone scored a run, walked once and had a steal. 

Baker was the winning pitcher where in three innings he allowed two earned runs on four hits and two walks with a strikeout. Aiden Bene pitched four innings, allowing one earned run on one hit and two walks with three strikeouts. 

For the Lions, five players each had one hit. Caleb Rice was 1-for-4 with an RBI. Cameron Miller was 1-for-3 with one walk. Ben Miller finished 1-for-3 with a walk. 

Zach Ahsaruk was 1-for-1 with a walk, a HBP and a steal. Cam Caudill was 1-for-2 with one RBI and one walk. Also for FHS, Van Bennington scored a run, was hit by a pitch and he had a steal. Anderson Humphreys finished the game with a run, a HBP and a steal. Greyson Abbott collected an RBI. 

Pitching for FHS were Humphreys (four innings, one strikeout) and Ben Miller (three innings, four strikeouts). 

BOX SCORE
LCHS    201 330 3 — 12 10 1 
FHS      020 001 0 — 3 5 3 

Editor's Note: (More Photos will be added)