Wildcats earn recent wins over Ripley, Peebles and West Union; fall to Green

In recent conference and non-conference games, the Whiteoak Wildcats earned wins over the Ripley Blue Jays, Peebles Indians and West Union Dragons for victories in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference. 

Also recently, WHS lost to the Franklin Furnace Green Bobcats in non-conference action. 

Against Ripley at WHS on April 14, the Wildcats won by a score of 29-0 in five innings for the SHAC victory. 

The Wildcats totaled 11 hits in the win and had 18 walks. WHS scored nine runs in the bottom of the first inning, then followed with eight runs in the second, two runs in the third and a 10-run fourth inning. 

Izayah Clift finished the game with three hits as he finished 3-for-3 with four runs, one double, one triple, six RBI, two walks and three steals. 

Christian Hite went 2-for-4 with two runs, a double, four RBI and a walk. 

Gaining one hit each were Abe Flader (1-for-3, two runs, three RBI, one walk and one steal), Shane Gray (1-for-1 with one run, one RBI and a walk), Jonah Michael (1-for-3, three runs, two RBI, one walk, one SAC), Lucas Pollard (1-for-1, four runs, one RBI, four walks, two steals), Karson Arey (1-for-2, four runs, one RBI, one walk, two HBP, two steals) and Kellan limon (1-for-1, one run, two RBI, one walk). 

WHS also had Jacob Kiley with one RBI, one HBP and a walk. Teammate Jude Michael scored two runs, plus he collected an RBI, one walk and had a SAC. Gabe Michael scored two runs, collected an RBI, walked twice and had a steal. Hayden Stratton scored two runs, had one RBI, one walk and a HBP. Caden Butler finished the game with an RBI, two walks,  a HBP and a walk.

Gabe Michael was the winning pitcher as he went five innings on the mound of another complete game. Michael allowed no runs on one hit and three walks with nine strikeouts. 

BOX SCORE
RHS        000 00x x — 0 
WHS       982 (10)x x — 29

On Wednesday, April 15, the Whiteoak Wildcats lost by a 10-0 score in five innings against the Franklin Furnace Green Bobcats in non-conference play at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe. 

The Wildcats totaled four hits in the loss, where Abe Flader went 2-for-2 with a double and one steal. Christian Hite finished 1-for-1 with a walk. Also for WHS, Jacob Kiley was 1-for-2 with a double. The Wildcats saw Karson Arey draw two walks, and Gabe Michael also had one walk. 

Jonah Michael pitched for WHS, where he totaled five strikeouts as only five of the GHS runs were earned. 

BOX SCORE
GHS    145 00x x — 10
WHS    000 00x x — 0 

In a first-place battle for the top spot of Division II for the Southern Hills Athletic Conference on Thursday, April 16, the Whiteoak Wildcats defeated the Peebles Indians, 3-1 at Peebles High School. 

The game was scoreless for the first four innings, and it was Whiteoak gaining the upper hand with the first run of the game in the top of the fifth for the 1-0 lead as Caden Butler reached first base on an infield error as he took second base. He advanced to third base on another error and took home on a wild pitch for the 1-0 lead. 

WHS added two runs in the top of the sixth inning when Christian Hite and Karson Arey scored runs with one of the runners brought in by Gabe Michael for the RBI for a 3-0 lead. 

Peebles scored their lone run in the bottom of the sixth inning. 

Hit leaders for the Wildcats were Lucas Pollard at 2-for-4 with one double and one RBI with two steals. Izayah Clift was 1-for-4 with two steals. Arey finished 1-for-3 with one run and a HBP. 

The Wildcats also saw Jonah Michael be hit by a pitch. Hite scored a run and had two walks and two steals. Kiley drew a walk, while Gabe Michael had one RBI, and teammate Butler finished with a run and one HBP. 

Clift was the winning pitcher as he went all seven innings on the mound where he allowed no earned runs on four hits and three walks with 12 strikeouts. 

BOX SCORE
WHS    000 120 0 — 3
PHS    000 001 0 — 1

Friday evening (April 17), the Whiteoak Wildcats were back in SHAC play where this game they earned another conference victory by defeating the visiting West Union Dragons, 11-1 in five innings for the run-rule win. 

Whiteoak scored six runs in the bottom of the third inning, and followed that with four runs in the fourth and one run in the fifth to cap off the 10-run win. WUHS scored their lone run in the top of the fourth inning. 

For Whiteoak, they had a two-hit game by Jonah Michael who finished 2-for-2 with one run, one RBI and two walks. 

Christian Hite was 1-for-2 with a run, one RBI and a HBP. Gabe Michael finished 1-for-3 with one run. Caden Butler was 1-for-3 with two runs, a double, one RBI and a steal. 

The Wildcats also had Flader finish with two runs, one walk, a HBP and two steals. Clift collected a run and two walks to his final totals. Karson Arey scored one run and had one RBI. 

Arey was the winning pitcher as he pitched all five innings, allowing one earned run on three hits and two walks with eight strikeouts. 

Also for WHS following a win on Saturday at Ironton St. Joseph, the Wildcats stand at 8-7 overall, and they are now 7-1 in the SHAC Division II standings, first place. 

BOX SCORE
WUHS    000 10x x — 1 3 8 
WHS       006 41x x — 11 4 0