Carraher tosses shutout for Wildcat victory
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN — When Whiteoak's Gage Carraher and Ripley's Brad Kirschner are on the mound, it should be the only show in town.
On Friday night, it was, as the Wildcats and Blue Jays faced off in what baseball folks like to call "a game of inches." It was that and more, as the billed pitching matchup against summer league teammates was won off aggressive base running and clutch two-out hitting by the Wildcats as they defended their home field for a 2-0 victory.
Though both Carraher and Kirschner each controlled the pace of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference match, what proved to be the ultimate difference was two innings where the Wildcats totaled two hits, but scored their two runs.
Ripley's loss moves them to 8-2 overall, while the Wildcats improve to 8-3 overall, 4-0 in the SHAC.
"This game was a pleasure to watch and to coach," Whiteoak head coach Chris Veidt said. "We did a lot of timely things correctly.
"Gage's pitching was as good as it has been all season. He, like in years past, gets better with every start. I want to credit Kirschner too … he kept our hitters off-balanced."
The first run, which proved to be all the scoring the Wildcats needed, came with Tyler Williams leading off the fourth with an infield base hit, beating the throw to first base. Williams stole second, and then the clutch two-out hit occurred with Jason Jones sending the ball to right field for an RBI single, allowing Williams to round the bases for a 1-0 lead.
Veidt told a story about Jones, who was left out of the batting order in the previous game against Symmes Valley on Wednesday.
"Jason is a kid we know will swing the bat," he said. "This is his first full-time year, and he's getting more comfortable. We've DH'ed for a lot of kids this year, but we hit for him this week, and he was OK with it, saying 'yes sir,' all of the kids have this year who we've DH'ed for.
"The amazing thing is when we do hit for them, the very next game we put them back in the batting order … they hit the ball. Jason has a great work ethic, and it showed with the hit he had in the fourth."
An insurance run occurred in the fifth as Zach Docter hit a single to right field on a 2-0 count with one out. Docter stole second base and went to third on an errant pick-off attempt at second base, with the ball rolling to centerfield.
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Docter scored with a sacrifice fly to right field on a full-count by Carraher for the two-run lead.
That was all the scoring for the game, as this game was centered around the two aces on the mound.
Carraher (3-0) was the winning pitcher, going the complete seven innings. The Wildcat ace allowed no runs on three hits and two walks, while tallying 12 strikeouts.
"With Gage, we know one run could be enough," Veidt said. "It's not the way we like to think, but he pitched very well. We gave him some rest, playing him at first base earlier this week to save his energy.
"All three pitchers in this game pitched well and pitched a fast game."
Kirschner was charged with the loss. Kirschner, who signed to play Division I baseball at Xavier University, went five innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits and one walk. The ace of the Blue Jays collected 11 strikeouts.
Kirk pitched one inning of relief for the Blue Jays. He allowed no runs on one walk and no hits. He hit one batter with one strikeout.
One inning in which Kirschner showed his ability to get out of a tough situation was the third, as the Wildcats collected three consecutive one-out base hits from Justin Emery, Luke Taggert and Docter. Kirschner responded by striking out the next two batters, as the count got no higher than 2-2.
As for Carraher, he never faced more than five batters in an inning with the Blue Jays putting two runners on the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Carraher also responded to the pressure, ending the game on a ground ball hit back to him and striking out the final batter of the game, as the count reached 2-2.
The Wildcats will host the Wildcat Invitational on Saturday, their annual wooden bat tournament, beginning at 11 a.m.
On Monday, WHS will play a makeup game at Fairfield High School, as they will play the Lions in an SHAC game. That will be the second game where WHS will play five of seven games that are in the conference. They will play Fayetteville on Tuesday, Manchester Thursday and travel to Ripley next Friday.
"With our current schedule, this will test the depth of our pitching," Veidt said. "We've had seven guys pitch for us this season, six being starters, so it will be an interesting week for us."
On Friday night, it was, as the Wildcats and Blue Jays faced off in what baseball folks like to call "a game of inches." It was that and more, as the billed pitching matchup against summer league teammates was won off aggressive base running and clutch two-out hitting by the Wildcats as they defended their home field for a 2-0 victory.
Though both Carraher and Kirschner each controlled the pace of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference match, what proved to be the ultimate difference was two innings where the Wildcats totaled two hits, but scored their two runs.
Ripley's loss moves them to 8-2 overall, while the Wildcats improve to 8-3 overall, 4-0 in the SHAC.
"This game was a pleasure to watch and to coach," Whiteoak head coach Chris Veidt said. "We did a lot of timely things correctly.
"Gage's pitching was as good as it has been all season. He, like in years past, gets better with every start. I want to credit Kirschner too … he kept our hitters off-balanced."
The first run, which proved to be all the scoring the Wildcats needed, came with Tyler Williams leading off the fourth with an infield base hit, beating the throw to first base. Williams stole second, and then the clutch two-out hit occurred with Jason Jones sending the ball to right field for an RBI single, allowing Williams to round the bases for a 1-0 lead.
Veidt told a story about Jones, who was left out of the batting order in the previous game against Symmes Valley on Wednesday.
"Jason is a kid we know will swing the bat," he said. "This is his first full-time year, and he's getting more comfortable. We've DH'ed for a lot of kids this year, but we hit for him this week, and he was OK with it, saying 'yes sir,' all of the kids have this year who we've DH'ed for.
"The amazing thing is when we do hit for them, the very next game we put them back in the batting order … they hit the ball. Jason has a great work ethic, and it showed with the hit he had in the fourth."
An insurance run occurred in the fifth as Zach Docter hit a single to right field on a 2-0 count with one out. Docter stole second base and went to third on an errant pick-off attempt at second base, with the ball rolling to centerfield.
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Docter scored with a sacrifice fly to right field on a full-count by Carraher for the two-run lead.
That was all the scoring for the game, as this game was centered around the two aces on the mound.
Carraher (3-0) was the winning pitcher, going the complete seven innings. The Wildcat ace allowed no runs on three hits and two walks, while tallying 12 strikeouts.
"With Gage, we know one run could be enough," Veidt said. "It's not the way we like to think, but he pitched very well. We gave him some rest, playing him at first base earlier this week to save his energy.
"All three pitchers in this game pitched well and pitched a fast game."
Kirschner was charged with the loss. Kirschner, who signed to play Division I baseball at Xavier University, went five innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits and one walk. The ace of the Blue Jays collected 11 strikeouts.
Kirk pitched one inning of relief for the Blue Jays. He allowed no runs on one walk and no hits. He hit one batter with one strikeout.
One inning in which Kirschner showed his ability to get out of a tough situation was the third, as the Wildcats collected three consecutive one-out base hits from Justin Emery, Luke Taggert and Docter. Kirschner responded by striking out the next two batters, as the count got no higher than 2-2.
As for Carraher, he never faced more than five batters in an inning with the Blue Jays putting two runners on the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Carraher also responded to the pressure, ending the game on a ground ball hit back to him and striking out the final batter of the game, as the count reached 2-2.
The Wildcats will host the Wildcat Invitational on Saturday, their annual wooden bat tournament, beginning at 11 a.m.
On Monday, WHS will play a makeup game at Fairfield High School, as they will play the Lions in an SHAC game. That will be the second game where WHS will play five of seven games that are in the conference. They will play Fayetteville on Tuesday, Manchester Thursday and travel to Ripley next Friday.
"With our current schedule, this will test the depth of our pitching," Veidt said. "We've had seven guys pitch for us this season, six being starters, so it will be an interesting week for us."