Wildcats overcome adversity, advance to district finals
Lead Summary
By
The Highland County Press-
CHILLICOTHE — Looking at the Whiteoak Wildcats' 9-3 winning score of the Division IV SE District semifinal over the Green Bobcats could be deceiving because it doesn't tell the entire path the Wildcats took to gain the win.
WHS (20-7) led for a majority of the game and had an error on what would have been the final out in the bottom of the seventh inning, which tied the score and moved the game into extra innings.
Once in extra innings, the No. 3 seed Wildcats took complete control with six runs in the eighth, taking advantage of Green errors, as they move on to the district finals this Wednesday (May 16) as they face Valley (Lucasville) High School, the No. 1 seed, at 7 p.m. Wednesday at VA Memorial.
Green finishes the season at 19-7.
"I can't say enough about our kids' ability to overcome adversity," WHS head coach Chris Veidt said. "Their heart and mental toughness allowed them to pull this game out (Sunday), when many others would have pushed the panic button.
"They are winners … they do what they have to when they have to overcome adversity."
As for the game on Mother's Day Sunday, well, once the game began two and a half hours after the scheduled start time, WHS scored three runs with one apiece in the third, fourth and fifth innings for the 3-0 lead.
Green scored their runs with two in the sixth and one in the seventh, which forced extra innings.
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WHS took advantage of Green miscues with six runs in the top of the eighth for the win.
Whiteoak senior Michael Smith led the Wildcats at 4-for-4 from the plate with two runs and one RBI.
"I can't say enough about Michael," Veidt said. "He is a gutsy kid. He played in pain, and he was on base all five times. What heart this kid has."
Luke Taggert was 2-for-4 with one run and two RBIs, while Doc Seip was 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI. Jesse Bradds was 1-for-4 with two runs and one RBI.
"Luke and Doc were very productive for us offensively … they were on base 9 out of 10 times between them," Veidt said. "This was one of the craziest days of high school baseball in my 21 years as a coach.
"From the weather (rain), to starting 2 1/2 hrs late, playing on Mother's Day Sunday, to losing a lead late we held the entire night, and then our ability to turn the pressure around on our opponents and do what we had to do to be victorious … what a day. This is a special group of kids, all 22 of them."
The winning pitcher was Gage Carraher as he pitched 2 1-3 innings of relief. He allowed one run (none earned) on one hit and two walks. he struck out six as he improves to 8-1 on the hill this season.
Starting the game was Taggert with 5 2-3 innings on the mound. Taggert allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits and five walks. The junior struck out seven batters.
"The pitching tonight was excellent," Veidt said. "Luke and Gage carried us."
BOX SCORE
WHS 001 110 06 — 9
GHS 000 002 10 — 3
WHS (20-7) led for a majority of the game and had an error on what would have been the final out in the bottom of the seventh inning, which tied the score and moved the game into extra innings.
Once in extra innings, the No. 3 seed Wildcats took complete control with six runs in the eighth, taking advantage of Green errors, as they move on to the district finals this Wednesday (May 16) as they face Valley (Lucasville) High School, the No. 1 seed, at 7 p.m. Wednesday at VA Memorial.
Green finishes the season at 19-7.
"I can't say enough about our kids' ability to overcome adversity," WHS head coach Chris Veidt said. "Their heart and mental toughness allowed them to pull this game out (Sunday), when many others would have pushed the panic button.
"They are winners … they do what they have to when they have to overcome adversity."
As for the game on Mother's Day Sunday, well, once the game began two and a half hours after the scheduled start time, WHS scored three runs with one apiece in the third, fourth and fifth innings for the 3-0 lead.
Green scored their runs with two in the sixth and one in the seventh, which forced extra innings.
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WHS took advantage of Green miscues with six runs in the top of the eighth for the win.
Whiteoak senior Michael Smith led the Wildcats at 4-for-4 from the plate with two runs and one RBI.
"I can't say enough about Michael," Veidt said. "He is a gutsy kid. He played in pain, and he was on base all five times. What heart this kid has."
Luke Taggert was 2-for-4 with one run and two RBIs, while Doc Seip was 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI. Jesse Bradds was 1-for-4 with two runs and one RBI.
"Luke and Doc were very productive for us offensively … they were on base 9 out of 10 times between them," Veidt said. "This was one of the craziest days of high school baseball in my 21 years as a coach.
"From the weather (rain), to starting 2 1/2 hrs late, playing on Mother's Day Sunday, to losing a lead late we held the entire night, and then our ability to turn the pressure around on our opponents and do what we had to do to be victorious … what a day. This is a special group of kids, all 22 of them."
The winning pitcher was Gage Carraher as he pitched 2 1-3 innings of relief. He allowed one run (none earned) on one hit and two walks. he struck out six as he improves to 8-1 on the hill this season.
Starting the game was Taggert with 5 2-3 innings on the mound. Taggert allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits and five walks. The junior struck out seven batters.
"The pitching tonight was excellent," Veidt said. "Luke and Gage carried us."
BOX SCORE
WHS 001 110 06 — 9
GHS 000 002 10 — 3