Taggert 1-hits Indians for Wildcat victory
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN — Neither the Whiteoak Wildcats nor Hillsboro Indians were able to gain a victory in their first games of the Wildcat Invitational Saturday morning, but in the consolation game at WHS, it was Luke Taggert and the WHS defense who led the Wildcats to a Highland County win, defeating the Indians, 2-1.
The non-league win by WHS was highlighted by the pitching performance of Taggert, who allowed one hit in the game, not coming until the top of the seventh inning, as all the games Saturday in the invitational were played with wooden bats.
The loss moves the Indians to 6-5 overall, as they are 4-0 in the South Central Ohio League. WHS now stands at 7-4 overall, 4-0 in the Southern Hills League.
Taggert, who threw a total of 72 pitches, was perfect through four innings, retiring the first 12 batters the Indians sent to the plate.
The funny thing is Taggert originally wasn't slated to start the game Saturday, as now the Wildcats have won seven of their last eight games.
"This was a good ballgame," Whiteoak head coach Chris Veidt said. "Luke backed into the start because originally we wanted Zach Docter to start, but earlier in the week he threw a lot of pitches, so we wanted him to rest a little bit more."
Taggert hit the first batter in the top of the fifth and didn't allow another base runner until the seventh inning when Paul Snyder broke up the no-hit bid with a double to left field on a 1-1 count.
Also in the seventh, the lead-off hitter of the inning, Brandon Wilson (who walked) scored the lone HHS run off an error in left field that allowed Chase Gilliland to reach first base safely, who went to the plate with the bases loaded, as Taggert walked two of the four batters of the inning.
With two outs, Tyler Griego also walked, but Taggert ended the game as the Indians hit the ball back to the mound, and he tossed the ball to first base for the win.
"It doesn't matter if we used wooden bats or not … (Saturday), the way we swung the bats, we let the pitcher dictate our at-bats," Hillsboro head coach Tim Hunt said. "It's mental with us … this is not the way we play baseball, and in a matter of two days, we threw everything out the window we've taught."
Taggert finished the day with seven innings pitched, allowing one run (none earned) on one hit and three walks. Taggert struck out three batters.
In the one-hitter, 11 of the 21 outs were ground outs, while six came via the fly ball. One runner was thrown out at third base on a force out and three via the aforementioned strikeouts.
[[In-content Ad]]In their two games Saturday, HHS totaled just three hits, including two in an 11-0 loss to Logan Elm, in which four of the 11 runs by LE were earned runs. WHS lost their first game to Rock Hill, 22-1.
As for the two runs by the Wildcats' scoring, they took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with Zach Docter (who walked with one out) scoring on a two-out base hit to right field by Jesse Bradds.
The final run by WHS came in the bottom of the sixth with Gage Carraher lead off the WHS half of the inning with an infield single on a full-count. After moving to second on a ground out to first by Bradds, Carraher scored on a two-out base hit to shallow right field by Tyler Williams. Also gaining hits in the sixth were Doc Seip and Tyler Roberts.
The loss was charged to Hillsboro's Levi Fleming. Fleming, who finished with 106 pitches, went six innings on the hill for the complete game. Fleming allowed just one run (one earned) on five hits and three walks. Fleming struck out five batters.
"(Levi) Fleming pitched a good game against us, and it was a shame either one of these kids had to lose," Veidt said.
Coach Hunt was pleased with the pitching by Fleming.
"Levi pitched a great game again … he's had two great starts, we just need to play defense behind him and start hitting for him," Hunt said. "Levi is a great kid and a great pitcher."
HHS will be on the road Monday as they travel to face the London Red Raiders in an SCOL game at 5 p.m.
The Wildcats will play again on April 10 when they travel to face Ripley in an SHL game.
BOX SCORE
HHS 000 000 1 — 1 1 1
WHS 100 001 x — 2 5 1
The non-league win by WHS was highlighted by the pitching performance of Taggert, who allowed one hit in the game, not coming until the top of the seventh inning, as all the games Saturday in the invitational were played with wooden bats.
The loss moves the Indians to 6-5 overall, as they are 4-0 in the South Central Ohio League. WHS now stands at 7-4 overall, 4-0 in the Southern Hills League.
Taggert, who threw a total of 72 pitches, was perfect through four innings, retiring the first 12 batters the Indians sent to the plate.
The funny thing is Taggert originally wasn't slated to start the game Saturday, as now the Wildcats have won seven of their last eight games.
"This was a good ballgame," Whiteoak head coach Chris Veidt said. "Luke backed into the start because originally we wanted Zach Docter to start, but earlier in the week he threw a lot of pitches, so we wanted him to rest a little bit more."
Taggert hit the first batter in the top of the fifth and didn't allow another base runner until the seventh inning when Paul Snyder broke up the no-hit bid with a double to left field on a 1-1 count.
Also in the seventh, the lead-off hitter of the inning, Brandon Wilson (who walked) scored the lone HHS run off an error in left field that allowed Chase Gilliland to reach first base safely, who went to the plate with the bases loaded, as Taggert walked two of the four batters of the inning.
With two outs, Tyler Griego also walked, but Taggert ended the game as the Indians hit the ball back to the mound, and he tossed the ball to first base for the win.
"It doesn't matter if we used wooden bats or not … (Saturday), the way we swung the bats, we let the pitcher dictate our at-bats," Hillsboro head coach Tim Hunt said. "It's mental with us … this is not the way we play baseball, and in a matter of two days, we threw everything out the window we've taught."
Taggert finished the day with seven innings pitched, allowing one run (none earned) on one hit and three walks. Taggert struck out three batters.
In the one-hitter, 11 of the 21 outs were ground outs, while six came via the fly ball. One runner was thrown out at third base on a force out and three via the aforementioned strikeouts.
[[In-content Ad]]In their two games Saturday, HHS totaled just three hits, including two in an 11-0 loss to Logan Elm, in which four of the 11 runs by LE were earned runs. WHS lost their first game to Rock Hill, 22-1.
As for the two runs by the Wildcats' scoring, they took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with Zach Docter (who walked with one out) scoring on a two-out base hit to right field by Jesse Bradds.
The final run by WHS came in the bottom of the sixth with Gage Carraher lead off the WHS half of the inning with an infield single on a full-count. After moving to second on a ground out to first by Bradds, Carraher scored on a two-out base hit to shallow right field by Tyler Williams. Also gaining hits in the sixth were Doc Seip and Tyler Roberts.
The loss was charged to Hillsboro's Levi Fleming. Fleming, who finished with 106 pitches, went six innings on the hill for the complete game. Fleming allowed just one run (one earned) on five hits and three walks. Fleming struck out five batters.
"(Levi) Fleming pitched a good game against us, and it was a shame either one of these kids had to lose," Veidt said.
Coach Hunt was pleased with the pitching by Fleming.
"Levi pitched a great game again … he's had two great starts, we just need to play defense behind him and start hitting for him," Hunt said. "Levi is a great kid and a great pitcher."
HHS will be on the road Monday as they travel to face the London Red Raiders in an SCOL game at 5 p.m.
The Wildcats will play again on April 10 when they travel to face Ripley in an SHL game.
BOX SCORE
HHS 000 000 1 — 1 1 1
WHS 100 001 x — 2 5 1