Whiteoak Wildcats fall in Division IV SE District Finals to Huntington
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The Whiteoak Wildcats lost their Division IV SE District Final game on Wednesday night, falling to the Huntington Huntsmen by an 8-3 score at VA Memorial Stadium.
Whiteoak had numerous chances to score runs as they loaded the bases on more than one occasion, but just didn’t get the runners over to home plate when they needed them the most, resulting in them ending their season as the district runners-up.
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WHS wraps up their 2019 season — one year removed from reaching the Division IV State Semifinals in 2018 — with an overall record of 25-5, as they were also the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Division II champions for a second consecutive season, going 12-1 in the SHAC.
The Wildcats also won a sectional title and gained a district semifinal win in this year’s tournament. In the past two seasons, WHS has now won 25 or more games in each of those seasons, setting a school record for wins in a season.
“Game-wise, very disappointing,” WHS head coach Chris Veidt said of the district final loss. “Damage done to us was self-inflicted, which is so uncharacteristic for this team. We gave up 15 freebies, and we left 14 guys on base and left them loaded three times.
“On the positive ledger, we had a .622 quality at-bat percentage, and them being the fighters they are, we had the tying run in the hole to end it.”
On Wednesday night in the district finals, WHS scored two runs in the first inning, as they were the No. 2 seed in the tournament, with Mason Lehr and Ty Large scoring runs in the top of the inning. Lehr reached the bases with a two-out single and went to second on a passed ball. Large followed with a walk on four straight pitches.
Both runners scored when on a 0-1 count Evan Brill smashed a double but was also thrown out to end the inning. Those two runs gave the Wildcats a 2-1 lead over Huntington at the end of the first inning, but the second inning didn’t go so well for the Wildcats, who entered the game as the defending district champions.
The Wildcats came answered with two base runners in the top of the second with Trey Bogart and Ryan Roberts reaching the bases on errors to lead off the inning, but both were left stranded as the next three WHS batters were retired in order.
Huntington scored five runs in the inning take a 6-2 lead over the Wildcats, as the Huntsmen had just one hit, but capitalized on Whiteoak also walking a batter, hitting batters and committing errors.
WHS loaded the bases in the third inning as Zach Harless hit a single, Large walked and Bogart was hit by a pitch, but again, more base runners were left stranded with the inning ending on a ground out to third base.
In the fourth inning Whiteoak saw Billy Oliver draw a one-out walk, followed by a double by Hamilton to plate Oliver for the third run, though Hamilton was thrown out on his way to third base. WHS kept the inning going with two outs as Harless was walked, as was Lehr, but both runners were left stranded in scoring position after both advanced to second and third bases, respectively, on a passed ball.
Huntington scored two more runs in the game with one run in the fifth and one final run in the sixth inning.
WHS didn’t score any more runs in the game but in the fifth inning had Brill lead off by taking first base on an error, followed by Bogart being hit by a pitch.
Following two straight outs, the bases were loaded for the second time in the game with Oliver being hit by a pitch. All three runners were left on the bases as the fifth ended with a fly ball to centerfield for the final out of the inning.
In the sixth, Lehr was left stranded, and the seventh inning saw Roberts and Oliver reach the bases, but both were left there as the game ended on a pop up to the Huntington shortstop.
The pitching loss was charged to Hamilton.
Veidt spoke about his seniors and all that they’ve meant to the WHS baseball program. Seniors for WHS are Traeten Hamilton, Ryan Roberts, Chase Butler, Evan Brill and Ty Large.
“This group of seniors is the most decorated group in program history, which is really saying something. They had 83 wins, two SHAC championships, a gold ball, four sectional titles, one district title, one regional title and a trip to State Final Four.
“They’ve also been state poll champions and were state ranked No. 5 this year, but perhaps what is more impressive is they are better people, if that is possible.
“They are great kids and so fun to spend time with. What a tribute they are to their excellent family backgrounds, this community and the Bright Local Schools. They will be successful adults as well. I feel so fortunate to be a part of this school district, and most importantly, a part of their lives.”
Whiteoak had numerous chances to score runs as they loaded the bases on more than one occasion, but just didn’t get the runners over to home plate when they needed them the most, resulting in them ending their season as the district runners-up.
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WHS wraps up their 2019 season — one year removed from reaching the Division IV State Semifinals in 2018 — with an overall record of 25-5, as they were also the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Division II champions for a second consecutive season, going 12-1 in the SHAC.
The Wildcats also won a sectional title and gained a district semifinal win in this year’s tournament. In the past two seasons, WHS has now won 25 or more games in each of those seasons, setting a school record for wins in a season.
“Game-wise, very disappointing,” WHS head coach Chris Veidt said of the district final loss. “Damage done to us was self-inflicted, which is so uncharacteristic for this team. We gave up 15 freebies, and we left 14 guys on base and left them loaded three times.
“On the positive ledger, we had a .622 quality at-bat percentage, and them being the fighters they are, we had the tying run in the hole to end it.”
On Wednesday night in the district finals, WHS scored two runs in the first inning, as they were the No. 2 seed in the tournament, with Mason Lehr and Ty Large scoring runs in the top of the inning. Lehr reached the bases with a two-out single and went to second on a passed ball. Large followed with a walk on four straight pitches.
Both runners scored when on a 0-1 count Evan Brill smashed a double but was also thrown out to end the inning. Those two runs gave the Wildcats a 2-1 lead over Huntington at the end of the first inning, but the second inning didn’t go so well for the Wildcats, who entered the game as the defending district champions.
The Wildcats came answered with two base runners in the top of the second with Trey Bogart and Ryan Roberts reaching the bases on errors to lead off the inning, but both were left stranded as the next three WHS batters were retired in order.
Huntington scored five runs in the inning take a 6-2 lead over the Wildcats, as the Huntsmen had just one hit, but capitalized on Whiteoak also walking a batter, hitting batters and committing errors.
WHS loaded the bases in the third inning as Zach Harless hit a single, Large walked and Bogart was hit by a pitch, but again, more base runners were left stranded with the inning ending on a ground out to third base.
In the fourth inning Whiteoak saw Billy Oliver draw a one-out walk, followed by a double by Hamilton to plate Oliver for the third run, though Hamilton was thrown out on his way to third base. WHS kept the inning going with two outs as Harless was walked, as was Lehr, but both runners were left stranded in scoring position after both advanced to second and third bases, respectively, on a passed ball.
Huntington scored two more runs in the game with one run in the fifth and one final run in the sixth inning.
WHS didn’t score any more runs in the game but in the fifth inning had Brill lead off by taking first base on an error, followed by Bogart being hit by a pitch.
Following two straight outs, the bases were loaded for the second time in the game with Oliver being hit by a pitch. All three runners were left on the bases as the fifth ended with a fly ball to centerfield for the final out of the inning.
In the sixth, Lehr was left stranded, and the seventh inning saw Roberts and Oliver reach the bases, but both were left there as the game ended on a pop up to the Huntington shortstop.
The pitching loss was charged to Hamilton.
Veidt spoke about his seniors and all that they’ve meant to the WHS baseball program. Seniors for WHS are Traeten Hamilton, Ryan Roberts, Chase Butler, Evan Brill and Ty Large.
“This group of seniors is the most decorated group in program history, which is really saying something. They had 83 wins, two SHAC championships, a gold ball, four sectional titles, one district title, one regional title and a trip to State Final Four.
“They’ve also been state poll champions and were state ranked No. 5 this year, but perhaps what is more impressive is they are better people, if that is possible.
“They are great kids and so fun to spend time with. What a tribute they are to their excellent family backgrounds, this community and the Bright Local Schools. They will be successful adults as well. I feel so fortunate to be a part of this school district, and most importantly, a part of their lives.”