Whiteoak keeps traveling tournament road; advances to Elite 8

LANCASTER — The Whiteoak Wildcats are going to the Elite 8, and they are doing so after defeating the Seneca East Tigers, 3-1 in the Division IV Regional Semifinals Thursday at Beavers Field in Lancaster.

The Wildcats (27-3) battled out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the first inning, overcame calls on the field that didn’t go their liking and fended off a fellow district champion in the final inning with three straight outs to advance to the Elite 8 for the second time in program history, as the first time was in 2018. 

On Thursday, Whiteoak saw Seneca East load the bases in the top of the first inning with their first three batters, as they reached the bases with a single, an infield error and a walk. From there, senior pitcher Landon Barnett and the WHS defense settled down and recorded three straight outs, coming off a line drive hit to second base, a fielder’s choice and a groundout to the shortstop with a throw to second base. 

“The most impressive thing about it is the way we worked out the jams defensively,” WHS head coach Chris Veidt said of the regional semifinal game. “Landon on the mound, doing that. Zander [Roades] at third base was impressive. Luken [Roades] and Eli [Roberts] didn’t get as many opportunities, obviously, as Zander did, but we were clean when we needed to be.”

Keeping the Tigers scoreless was big for Whiteoak, as it paid off in the bottom of the second inning — after WHS retired the Seneca East batters in order in the top of the second — with the first run of the game. 

WHS started their half of the second with Nate Price hitting a double to right field, followed by Ian Griffith hitting a single through the middle of the infield (with an 0-2 count) to centerfield, scoring Price for the 1-0 lead. 

“Nate Price pieced together some really good at-bats for us today,” Veidt said. “He had that leadoff double, and then Ian scoring him on the hit to get us on the board there to give us that early lead, that's huge. That’s what seniors do. They’re clutch in big moments like Landon was, like Ian was, like Nate was, and golly, for that matter, Luken.”

The following half inning saw the Tigers (16-13-1) tie the score at 1-1, but a solid defensive play by Zander Roades at third base started the inning on a positive note for the Wildcats as the sophomore grabbed the ball off a huge hop, fielded it and threw the batter out a first base for the first out of the inning. 

After the second out was recorded on another infield play, the Tigers saw Caden Fritz draw a walk on five pitches to keep the inning going for Seneca East. Next was a double hit to left field by Brandon Hines, with the ball traveling past the Whiteoak defense and to the fence, scoring Fritz. 

There was a discussion between Veidt and the home plate umpire, as there was a question as to whether the runner touched third base, but the umpires eventually said the run stood, leaving the regional semifinal score tied at 1-1. 

The Wildcats regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning with Barnett leading off the inning with a jog to first base after being hit by a pitch. Barnett then raced to second for a steal in the ensuing at-bat, and later he stole third base with two outs. 

Barnett eventually scored on a passed ball on ball four thrown by the pitcher, allowing Price to take first base, and Barnett scored the second run of the game for Whiteoak. 

Whiteoak’s final run came in the bottom of the fifth inning with Zander Roades — who led off the inning with a single to right field — scoring the run off a ground ball hit by Luken Roades for the 3-1 lead. 

The Wildcats fended off another bit of pressure applied by the Tigers in the top of the sixth when their first two runners reached the bases. The inning ended with both runners stranded, as Barnett struck out the next two batters, and the third out was recorded on a pop up to first baseman David Donohoo. 

In the top of the seventh, WHS ended the game with three straight outs, including a called third strike thrown by Barnett, a groundout to the shortstop and a fly ball hit to centerfield, with the final out being caught by Carson Emery. 

Whiteoak totaled four hits, with Price, Griffith, Zander Roades and Solomon Combs each recording a hit. 

“You’ve got two sophomores with [Combs] and Zander playing the way they did, and that’s just huge,” Veidt said. “Solomon kind of misjudged a ball in left field. You worry about a kid who doesn’t have a lot of experience, being a sophomore, and being a kid that wasn’t in the starting lineup until late. 

“He and I had a quick conversation about what we need to do in terms of being where our feet are and playing present. He comes right out with runners on first and second, nobody out, lays out a perfect bunt and beats it out. That’s a kid that’s thinking right, and that’s as impressive as anything else that happened today.”

The winning pitcher Barnett pitched all seven innings, allowing one earned run on three hits and four walks, facing a total of 27 batters and totaling seven strikeouts. 

Fritz was charged with the loss on the mound, with the Tigers’ pitcher going six innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits and four walks, while collecting five strikeouts. 

Next for Whiteoak (27-3) is a regional final game Friday, June 2 against Berlin Hiland (27-1) in a battle of the state-ranked No. 1 (Hiland) and No. 2 (Whiteoak) teams in Division IV with a ticket to the state Final Four on the line, starting at 6 p.m. at Beavers Field in Lancaster. 

“We're talking about kids that watched their brothers and their relatives or cousins or just were fans, when they were little kids coming here [in 2018],” Veidt said. “They came here kind of starry eyed last year thinking, ‘Oh, man, now we're on the stage.’ Well, now they know that they've earned that right. They're supposed to be on this stage, and they can perform on the stage, and obviously they did well.”

Berlin Hiland won their regional semifinal game on Thursday against South Webster – who were 18-12 this season – by a 13-1 score. Also this postseason, Berlin Hiland has defeated Malvern (13-0), Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans (13-0), Toronto (13-1) and Bowerston Conotton Valley (11-1) in the East District. 

“We just need to come in tomorrow similar to some of the games that we played in 2018 in terms of the thought process, and just play Wildcat baseball, not be concerned with who we’re playing,” Veidt said. “It's a situation tomorrow where it's not who we play, it's how we play. I just want to give them our best shot. I just want to play a clean game, and if we do that, we'll be just fine.” 

BOX SCORE

SEHS 001 000 0 – 1

WHS 010 110 x – 3