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Mustangs one win away from SHL title; defeat Wildcats  

Lead Summary
By
The Highland County Press-
MOWRYSTOWN — The Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs are one win away from clinching their second consecutive Southern Hills League Division I championship.

On Friday, the Mustangs took home a 3-2 win over the Whiteoak Wildcats in a cross-county SHL game, as the Mustangs were the home team at Wildcat Field.

A win Saturday afternoon against the North Adams Green Devils at LCHS, and the Mustangs clinch the SHL title, as they are currently 9-1 in the SHL.

In their previous meeting with NAHS, the Mustangs won 15-5 in six innings on March 29.

LC has now scored 34 runs in their last three games.

On Friday, though, the Mustangs won with small ball, scoring one run in the third, fourth and sixth innings.

The game-winning run came with Wes Pierson reaching first on a walk with one out in the bottom of the sixth. Pierson stole second. He scored on a RBI single by Joey Butler.

The other two runs by LC came in back-to-back innings in the third and fourth.

Gage Waits started the third with a walk.

Teammate Chaz Lanier drew a walk of his own, as Waits took third on a wild pitch. Waits scored on a bunt safety squeeze by Colin Creek.

The Wildcats answered in the top of the fourth, tying the game at one. Jesse Bradds, who doubled with two outs, scored on a RBI single by Tyler Williams, who send the ball to left field.

"Tyler Williams was very clutch," WHS head coach Chris Veidt said. "Offensively, we saw their two best pitchers."

The tied score didn't last long, with LC scoring in the bottom of the fourth for a 2-1 lead.

Austin Fawley opened the inning with a base hit to left-center field. Fawley stole second and took third on a wild pitch. He scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Ryan Doss.

Whiteoak tied the score at two runs apiece. The inning began with Luke Taggert singling to centerfield, then stealing second. Gage Carraher walked and Bradds walked to load the bases.

With the bases loaded, the Mustang defense took over with a 6-4-3 double play, allowing Taggert to score, but forced two outs in the trade-off. The double play went with Lanier fielding the ball at short, tossing the ball to Dallas Puckett at second, who in turn threw the ball to first baseman Butler.

LC starting pitcher Terry Campbell ended the inning, working out of the jam with a strikeout.

"We have not worked on defense because of all the rain we've had," Waits said. "We did work in the gym, but we only had one error tonight, and that was good. We had a big double play because our guys were locked in and focused."

Veidt talked about the double play.

"They didn't have the infield in, and they were gambling. Their kids made a good play. It was a great defensive stop by them," Veidt said.

Campbell earned the win for LC, pitching six innings, facing 25 batters. He allowed two earned runs on five hits and three walks. Campbell struck out 11. Doss earned the save for LC. He pitched one inning, facing three batters and striking out three.

The loss went to Taggert, who pitched the complete game, finishing with eight strikeouts. He allowed two hits and walked three. Campbell has 21 strikeouts in his last two appearances.

"Terry was in the game right from the get-go," Waits said. "In his last game, he had 10 strikeouts, and he's pitching very well.

"Ryan pitched five innings on Thursday, and he came in and closed the door."

Also gaining a hit in the game for WHS was Ryan Emery, a base hit in the third inning.

"I can't remember the last time Ryan (Emery) hasn't hit the ball hard. He puts the ball in play," Veidt said.

The loss drops WHS to 7-8 overall and 3-6 in the SHL.  

LC will face North Adams on Saturday at 11 a.m. WHS will play on Monday, hosting Eastern Brown at 5 p.m.[[In-content Ad]]

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