Bradds sends Wildcats to district finals
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
CHILLICOTHE — When the Whiteoak Wildcats needed a run the most … with two outs and a runner on first, not to mention in the bottom of the seventh inning in a scoreless tie, senior Jesse Bradds came through.
All Bradds did was what he worked all offseason for … pushing the Wildcats into the Division IV SE District final, hitting the ball to centerfield, scoring fellow senior Gage Carraher from first base for a 1-0 victory over the No. 4 seeded Trimble Tomcats, Saturday at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe.
[[In-content Ad]]No. 1 seed WHS (20-7) had trouble all game long stranding runners on the bases, including three in the sixth inning, but with a clean slate in the bottom of the seventh, it was Whiteoak's senior class which, again, proved to be the spark plug to continue their season.
In the aforementioned seventh inning, Carraher, with two outs on the scoreboard, kept the game going with a single to right field. With Carraher on first base, Bradds sent the baseball, on a 0-1 count, to centerfield, as the diving Trimble outfielder tried to end the inning, but the ball hit the ground for a single, then rolled to the outfield wall, allowing Carraher to race to home plate where his teammates waited for a celebration.
Following the celebration at home plate, the Wildcats raced down the third base line where Bradds was standing, continuing their celebration for the district semifinal win. Bradds finished 2-for-4 with one RBI.
"We've talked about Jesse's improvement over the last five games, and he knows how to hit from the cleanup position," WHS head coach Chris Veidt said. "We've moved him around a couple times in the lineup this season, but headed into this game, we wanted him back at the cleanup spot, and it paid off.
"Jesse has put the work in all winter long … he's worked very hard."
Veidt also spoke about how the seniors, once again, came up in the situations that mattered the most.
"They understand baseball is a process driven sport," he said. "Our two-out hitting all season has come through. We had the top of the order at the plate in the seventh, and recorded two quick outs. A lot of people might have thought 'oh no, here we go,' but they (WHS) didn't.
"Jesse and Gage have been a part of this program for six years (they were team managers two years before high school), and I'm proud of how they came through for us."
Getting to that walk-off way of winning also meant the Wildcats were unable to score runs in the previous six innings, leaving a total of nine runners stranded, with five on second and third combined.
"We aren't a team who normally puts the ball in the air, but (Saturday) we did," Veidt said. "We were aggressive at the plate, but as an offense, we have to adjust better in our next game.
"Don't take anything away from Trimble … they pitched their ace (Caullin Lunsford) and he was good."
WHS had 11 outs via the fly ball.
Though WHS had their woes scoring runs, their pitching was spectacular, as starter Luke Taggert had very good command of his pitches, allowing zero runs on five hits and one walk, pitching 5.1 innings. Taggert never faced more than four batters in an inning, including a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth. Taggert, a senior, had four strikeouts.
At the plate, Taggert was 2-for-3 with a walk.
Carraher came in for 1.2 innings of relief. The WHS ace entered the game with runners on first and third in the top of the sixth and proceeded to strike out the first batter he faced, then forced a fly ball to left field for the final out of the inning.
In the top of the seventh, Carraher struck out two batters and forced another fly out in a 10-pitch inning.
In his 1.2 innings of relief, Carraher earned the win with three strikeouts, no runs and no walks in the five batters he faced. Carraher improves to 7-0 overall with 43.2 innings pitched. Carraher has 70 strikeouts this spring.
"What Luke did today was just as big as what happened in the seventh inning," Veidt said. "It wasn't a secret we pitched our No. 2 pitcher in the district semifinals, but Luke got us to where we needed to be.
"Taking Luke out was a gamble for me to take with the way he was pitching, but I can't say enough about how well he pitched for us."
Veidt talked about the decision to bring in Carraher when he did.
"I kept having this voice in the back of my mind telling me I have one of the best pitchers in the state standing at shortstop, and if I didn't use him then, I'd be sorry," he said. "This win … it's them … the players.
"They played with no fear. They were wound up during the game, we all were, that's what happens when the tournament starts."
For the game, WHS collected seven hits, three walks and had a batter hit by a pitch. Gaining one hit each were Zach Docter, Carraher and Tyler Williams. Taggert, Jones and Kyle Marler each forced a walk, and Jason Jones was hit by a pitch.
One inning which got away from WHS was the sixth.
The Wildcats had Bradds and Williams lead-off with base hits, and with one out, the bases were loaded with Jones being hit by a pitch. WHS was unable to get the bunt down on a squeeze attempt, but the second out came on a fielder's choice on a force out at home plate. The inning ended with a strikeout.
WHS will play in the Division IV SE District Final on Monday, May 20 at 5 p.m. as they will face Portsmouth Notre Dame. In a doubleheader near the end of the season, the Wildcats swept the twin bill by scores of 2-1 and 16-9.
On Saturday, No. 3 seeded Notre Dame defeated No. 2 Eastern Meigs, 9-3.
All Bradds did was what he worked all offseason for … pushing the Wildcats into the Division IV SE District final, hitting the ball to centerfield, scoring fellow senior Gage Carraher from first base for a 1-0 victory over the No. 4 seeded Trimble Tomcats, Saturday at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe.
[[In-content Ad]]No. 1 seed WHS (20-7) had trouble all game long stranding runners on the bases, including three in the sixth inning, but with a clean slate in the bottom of the seventh, it was Whiteoak's senior class which, again, proved to be the spark plug to continue their season.
In the aforementioned seventh inning, Carraher, with two outs on the scoreboard, kept the game going with a single to right field. With Carraher on first base, Bradds sent the baseball, on a 0-1 count, to centerfield, as the diving Trimble outfielder tried to end the inning, but the ball hit the ground for a single, then rolled to the outfield wall, allowing Carraher to race to home plate where his teammates waited for a celebration.
Following the celebration at home plate, the Wildcats raced down the third base line where Bradds was standing, continuing their celebration for the district semifinal win. Bradds finished 2-for-4 with one RBI.
"We've talked about Jesse's improvement over the last five games, and he knows how to hit from the cleanup position," WHS head coach Chris Veidt said. "We've moved him around a couple times in the lineup this season, but headed into this game, we wanted him back at the cleanup spot, and it paid off.
"Jesse has put the work in all winter long … he's worked very hard."
Veidt also spoke about how the seniors, once again, came up in the situations that mattered the most.
"They understand baseball is a process driven sport," he said. "Our two-out hitting all season has come through. We had the top of the order at the plate in the seventh, and recorded two quick outs. A lot of people might have thought 'oh no, here we go,' but they (WHS) didn't.
"Jesse and Gage have been a part of this program for six years (they were team managers two years before high school), and I'm proud of how they came through for us."
Getting to that walk-off way of winning also meant the Wildcats were unable to score runs in the previous six innings, leaving a total of nine runners stranded, with five on second and third combined.
"We aren't a team who normally puts the ball in the air, but (Saturday) we did," Veidt said. "We were aggressive at the plate, but as an offense, we have to adjust better in our next game.
"Don't take anything away from Trimble … they pitched their ace (Caullin Lunsford) and he was good."
WHS had 11 outs via the fly ball.
Though WHS had their woes scoring runs, their pitching was spectacular, as starter Luke Taggert had very good command of his pitches, allowing zero runs on five hits and one walk, pitching 5.1 innings. Taggert never faced more than four batters in an inning, including a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth. Taggert, a senior, had four strikeouts.
At the plate, Taggert was 2-for-3 with a walk.
Carraher came in for 1.2 innings of relief. The WHS ace entered the game with runners on first and third in the top of the sixth and proceeded to strike out the first batter he faced, then forced a fly ball to left field for the final out of the inning.
In the top of the seventh, Carraher struck out two batters and forced another fly out in a 10-pitch inning.
In his 1.2 innings of relief, Carraher earned the win with three strikeouts, no runs and no walks in the five batters he faced. Carraher improves to 7-0 overall with 43.2 innings pitched. Carraher has 70 strikeouts this spring.
"What Luke did today was just as big as what happened in the seventh inning," Veidt said. "It wasn't a secret we pitched our No. 2 pitcher in the district semifinals, but Luke got us to where we needed to be.
"Taking Luke out was a gamble for me to take with the way he was pitching, but I can't say enough about how well he pitched for us."
Veidt talked about the decision to bring in Carraher when he did.
"I kept having this voice in the back of my mind telling me I have one of the best pitchers in the state standing at shortstop, and if I didn't use him then, I'd be sorry," he said. "This win … it's them … the players.
"They played with no fear. They were wound up during the game, we all were, that's what happens when the tournament starts."
For the game, WHS collected seven hits, three walks and had a batter hit by a pitch. Gaining one hit each were Zach Docter, Carraher and Tyler Williams. Taggert, Jones and Kyle Marler each forced a walk, and Jason Jones was hit by a pitch.
One inning which got away from WHS was the sixth.
The Wildcats had Bradds and Williams lead-off with base hits, and with one out, the bases were loaded with Jones being hit by a pitch. WHS was unable to get the bunt down on a squeeze attempt, but the second out came on a fielder's choice on a force out at home plate. The inning ended with a strikeout.
WHS will play in the Division IV SE District Final on Monday, May 20 at 5 p.m. as they will face Portsmouth Notre Dame. In a doubleheader near the end of the season, the Wildcats swept the twin bill by scores of 2-1 and 16-9.
On Saturday, No. 3 seeded Notre Dame defeated No. 2 Eastern Meigs, 9-3.