Whiteoak baseball shuts out Fairfield for SHAC win
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN — The Whiteoak Wildcats earned a Southern Hills Athletic Conference victory on Friday night as they defeated the visiting Fairfield Lions by a 3-0 score, adding runs in three different innings.
The Wildcats scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the first and followed with a run in the fifth and one final run in the bottom of the sixth inning. For the game, the Wildcats totaled three hits, while the visiting Lions collected four hits but committed an error.
“We had outstanding pitching and defense once again, and over the long haul, that is what wins games,” WHS head coach Chris Veidt said. “Offensively, we struggled at times, but we are coming around for two reasons.
“One, our approach at the plate as hitters is better, and the other thing is we’ve spent a long time with this young group throwing and catching it and working on defensive fundamentals.You don’t want to peak too early, as you want to be at your best in late April, early May. They’ve really impressed me defensively, and usually that is the hardest part for any high school team. We’ll start swinging better and stay aggressive on the bases and take it from there.”
WHS scored their first run in the bottom of the first when Kaden Moon-Stone drew a one-out walk, and he added another base with a steal. Landon Barnett followed the steal with a line drive single to left field, advancing Moon-Stone to third base. Moon-Stone scored the first run of the game off a Carson Emery ground out to first base, as he gained the RBI for the 1-0 lead.
Whiteoak opened the bottom of the fifth with a walk from Jaycob Gross, then he later stole second base before the first out was recorded. Luken Roades followed with a walk of his own, but before the walk, Gross advanced to third base. Gross then scored on an infield error, putting the Wildcats ahead by a 2-0 score.
The bottom of the sixth is where WHS scored their final run of the game, as Emery took first base with a hit-by-pitch, then he stole second base and advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a base hit by Ian Griffith.
For the game, WHS had a hit from Barnett, Griffith, and David Donohoo. For Fairfield, they had hits from Jacob Morgan and Hunter Burns and two by Orrie Friend.
Barnett was the winning pitcher for WHS as he went six strong innings and pitched to one batter in the seventh. He allowed no runs on four hits and no walk. Barnett totaled 11 strikeouts in the win. Roades pitched the seventh inning in relief for the save. He allowed no runs or hits and walked one.
“Landon had a big strikeout in the sixth, and into the seventh he was in the upper 80s in his pitch count,” Veidt said. “We brought in Luken and he’s been clutch, and those two have been tough.”
Cade Miller was charged with the loss, as he allowed two runs (one earned) on one hit and four walks. Miller finished with two strikeouts. Noah Allering pitched two innings of relief, where he allowed one run (earned) on two hits and two walks, while striking out three.
“Tonight we swung at too many pitches out of the zone, and you can’t do that against a good team,” Fairfield head coach Jeremy McGraw said. “We have to be better at selecting pitches, but we can’t fault our effort.
“We pitched extremely well, and Cade did a great job for us. Being a freshman and to give up only one hit is a good effort. Noah came in and did a solid job and is only a sophomore. We just didn’t have that timely hit. I’m not disappointed, but it is never fun to lose. We just have to have better pitch selection.”
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The Wildcats scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the first and followed with a run in the fifth and one final run in the bottom of the sixth inning. For the game, the Wildcats totaled three hits, while the visiting Lions collected four hits but committed an error.
“We had outstanding pitching and defense once again, and over the long haul, that is what wins games,” WHS head coach Chris Veidt said. “Offensively, we struggled at times, but we are coming around for two reasons.
“One, our approach at the plate as hitters is better, and the other thing is we’ve spent a long time with this young group throwing and catching it and working on defensive fundamentals.You don’t want to peak too early, as you want to be at your best in late April, early May. They’ve really impressed me defensively, and usually that is the hardest part for any high school team. We’ll start swinging better and stay aggressive on the bases and take it from there.”
WHS scored their first run in the bottom of the first when Kaden Moon-Stone drew a one-out walk, and he added another base with a steal. Landon Barnett followed the steal with a line drive single to left field, advancing Moon-Stone to third base. Moon-Stone scored the first run of the game off a Carson Emery ground out to first base, as he gained the RBI for the 1-0 lead.
Whiteoak opened the bottom of the fifth with a walk from Jaycob Gross, then he later stole second base before the first out was recorded. Luken Roades followed with a walk of his own, but before the walk, Gross advanced to third base. Gross then scored on an infield error, putting the Wildcats ahead by a 2-0 score.
The bottom of the sixth is where WHS scored their final run of the game, as Emery took first base with a hit-by-pitch, then he stole second base and advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a base hit by Ian Griffith.
For the game, WHS had a hit from Barnett, Griffith, and David Donohoo. For Fairfield, they had hits from Jacob Morgan and Hunter Burns and two by Orrie Friend.
Barnett was the winning pitcher for WHS as he went six strong innings and pitched to one batter in the seventh. He allowed no runs on four hits and no walk. Barnett totaled 11 strikeouts in the win. Roades pitched the seventh inning in relief for the save. He allowed no runs or hits and walked one.
“Landon had a big strikeout in the sixth, and into the seventh he was in the upper 80s in his pitch count,” Veidt said. “We brought in Luken and he’s been clutch, and those two have been tough.”
Cade Miller was charged with the loss, as he allowed two runs (one earned) on one hit and four walks. Miller finished with two strikeouts. Noah Allering pitched two innings of relief, where he allowed one run (earned) on two hits and two walks, while striking out three.
“Tonight we swung at too many pitches out of the zone, and you can’t do that against a good team,” Fairfield head coach Jeremy McGraw said. “We have to be better at selecting pitches, but we can’t fault our effort.
“We pitched extremely well, and Cade did a great job for us. Being a freshman and to give up only one hit is a good effort. Noah came in and did a solid job and is only a sophomore. We just didn’t have that timely hit. I’m not disappointed, but it is never fun to lose. We just have to have better pitch selection.”
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