Wildcats avenge early season loss, defeat Fairfield
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN — This time in their second meeting with the Fairfield Lions, it was the Whiteoak Wildcats who were able to have the big inning. In fact, the hosts had two innings where they scored three runs apiece, leading to a 7-2 victory Thursday night.
The Southern Hills Athletic Conference win by the Wildcats moves them to 5-7 in the conference and 11-10 overall, but on Thursday, they opened the game with a three-run first. Later, the Wildcats added one run in the fourth, then built a three-run fifth, plus stout pitching from Chase Butler was enough to defend their home field.
“Baseball is a fun sport in that it isn’t a one-game sport, and that’s why they have series at other levels,” Whiteoak head coach Chris Veidt said. “The last time, we had one bad inning and they capitalized on it, but today we had a big inning in the first and then another big inning in the fifth.
“Chase was on his A-game, and when you can get your off-speed stuff over at any level, that is what happens. Chase has great off-speed stuff, and that makes his fastball better.”
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Fairfield (6-4, 8-5) scored their runs with one in the top of the first, followed by one run in the third inning.
The Lions were first to score in their half of the first with Austin Setty leading off by taking first base on an error. From there, he stole second base and moved to third on a ground out to second base by Tucker Ayres. Setty scored on a fly ball to left field for the 1-0 lead.
Whiteoak had different plans in Round 2 of this Highland County showdown as they scored their runs in the bottom of the first, beginning with Traeten Hamilton reaching first base after being hit by a pitch. Next, Chase Butler singled in Hamilton from second base after he took the base on a balk. Trever Yeager doubled in the ensuing at-bat to score Butler. Yeager eventually scored on a passed ball for the 3-1 advantage.
FHS cut the Wildcats lead to one run in the top of the third with Setty scoring the second Fairfield run of the game. He stole second, then stole third base and scored on a ground out to the shortstop by Ayres for the 3-2 score.
The one-run deficit lasted just an inning with Brandon Lowe scoring a run on a passed ball. He initially reached the bases with a walk and moved to third base on a one-out double by Evan Brill for a 4-2 advantage.
WHS added to their lead with the aforementioned three-run fifth inning as Butler, Yeager and Caleb West all scored runs. West doubled in the inning to score Butler and Yeager, and Lowe hit a single to score West.
In all, the Wildcats collected six hits, as Yeager was 2-for-3 while Butler, Yeager, West and Lowe each had one hit.
The winning pitcher for the Wildcats was Butler, who allowed two earned runs on three hits and one walk in seven innings. Butler used his off-speed pitching to keep the Lions off balance, resulting in three strikeouts. Six of the outs recorded were via ground outs.
“We’ve had a good week, and Friday and Saturday we’d like to finish it off on a high note,” Veidt said.
The loss was charged to Ayres of Fairfield.
“It was one of those games earlier in the year we beat them, but that doesn’t mean anything this time, you have to come ready to play,” Fairfield head coach Tony Haley said. “We thought our guys were ready to play, but Whiteoak’s pitcher threw a lot of strikes, and we couldn’t stay back on him. He did a really good job, and when they had men in scoring position, they got the big hits.
“I’m not discouraged with four games this week, going 2-2. We are going to take the weekend off with the prom coming up so that way they can relax a little bit and not think so much about baseball and take it easy. We have four more tough games next week as well.”
The Southern Hills Athletic Conference win by the Wildcats moves them to 5-7 in the conference and 11-10 overall, but on Thursday, they opened the game with a three-run first. Later, the Wildcats added one run in the fourth, then built a three-run fifth, plus stout pitching from Chase Butler was enough to defend their home field.
“Baseball is a fun sport in that it isn’t a one-game sport, and that’s why they have series at other levels,” Whiteoak head coach Chris Veidt said. “The last time, we had one bad inning and they capitalized on it, but today we had a big inning in the first and then another big inning in the fifth.
“Chase was on his A-game, and when you can get your off-speed stuff over at any level, that is what happens. Chase has great off-speed stuff, and that makes his fastball better.”
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Fairfield (6-4, 8-5) scored their runs with one in the top of the first, followed by one run in the third inning.
The Lions were first to score in their half of the first with Austin Setty leading off by taking first base on an error. From there, he stole second base and moved to third on a ground out to second base by Tucker Ayres. Setty scored on a fly ball to left field for the 1-0 lead.
Whiteoak had different plans in Round 2 of this Highland County showdown as they scored their runs in the bottom of the first, beginning with Traeten Hamilton reaching first base after being hit by a pitch. Next, Chase Butler singled in Hamilton from second base after he took the base on a balk. Trever Yeager doubled in the ensuing at-bat to score Butler. Yeager eventually scored on a passed ball for the 3-1 advantage.
FHS cut the Wildcats lead to one run in the top of the third with Setty scoring the second Fairfield run of the game. He stole second, then stole third base and scored on a ground out to the shortstop by Ayres for the 3-2 score.
The one-run deficit lasted just an inning with Brandon Lowe scoring a run on a passed ball. He initially reached the bases with a walk and moved to third base on a one-out double by Evan Brill for a 4-2 advantage.
WHS added to their lead with the aforementioned three-run fifth inning as Butler, Yeager and Caleb West all scored runs. West doubled in the inning to score Butler and Yeager, and Lowe hit a single to score West.
In all, the Wildcats collected six hits, as Yeager was 2-for-3 while Butler, Yeager, West and Lowe each had one hit.
The winning pitcher for the Wildcats was Butler, who allowed two earned runs on three hits and one walk in seven innings. Butler used his off-speed pitching to keep the Lions off balance, resulting in three strikeouts. Six of the outs recorded were via ground outs.
“We’ve had a good week, and Friday and Saturday we’d like to finish it off on a high note,” Veidt said.
The loss was charged to Ayres of Fairfield.
“It was one of those games earlier in the year we beat them, but that doesn’t mean anything this time, you have to come ready to play,” Fairfield head coach Tony Haley said. “We thought our guys were ready to play, but Whiteoak’s pitcher threw a lot of strikes, and we couldn’t stay back on him. He did a really good job, and when they had men in scoring position, they got the big hits.
“I’m not discouraged with four games this week, going 2-2. We are going to take the weekend off with the prom coming up so that way they can relax a little bit and not think so much about baseball and take it easy. We have four more tough games next week as well.”