Mustangs take advantage of error for win over Whiteoak
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN — Lynchburg-Clay junior Wes Smith has brought his A game the past two outings when he's taken the mound, and this time on Monday he was able to gain a bit of redemption from his previous start.
In his previous outing last week, Smith pitched a complete game no-hitter, but lost as the Mustangs allowed two unearned runs. On this night, however, it was the Mustangs who were the ones who won with an unearned run scored, defeating the Whiteoak Wildcats, 1-0 in Southern Hills Athletic Conference play.
The Wildcats (2-4 in the SHAC) were the "away" team on their home field due to field conditions at LCHS, though it was the Mustangs who were able to take advantage of the windy weather conditions to score their lone run.
"Chase Carraher pitched a whale of a ball game against us, and we took advantage of the one time they had the dropped fly ball," LC head coach Garyn Waits said.
LC scored what was the only run of the game in the bottom of the third with two outs. The scoring effort began with Cory Snider taking first base after being hit by a pitch on a 1-1 count and went to second base on a passed ball.
[[In-content Ad]]With a 1-1 count on Morgan Ryan, the LC first baseman lifted the ball to shallow center field, with the pop up landing on the ground (off the glove of the outfielder) following an error in the outfield by the Wildcats as two players failed to call for the catch with two outs.
As the ball hit the ground, Snider scored a run for the 1-0 advantage.
In all, both teams combined for a grand total of six hits, with the Mustangs having four hits and the Wildcats gaining two.
As for the pitching of Smith, on Monday he didn't allow a hit until the third inning with two outs, giving him 9.2 innings of pitching without allowing an earned run or hit in the past two games.
The hit was off the bat of Jacob Burns.
"I'm tickled that this is two times in a row Wes has come out and allowed no earned runs," Waits said. "Defensively, this is the first time I can say all season that was error-free. We didn't kick the ball around, and that's a big step.
"Chris (Veidt) had his team ready to play. It doesn't matter if he has a team of freshmen or loaded up with seniors, they are going to play ball the way he wants them to play and that's scary.
"The guy was ready to go, and after having a day off on Saturday, coming back and playing like we did was nice."
In the first inning, Smith retired the first batter he faced, followed by a walk, but the junior responded with two consecutive strikeouts. Smith finished the game with 12 strikeouts, giving him 22 in his past two games.
In the win, Smith pitched all seven innings (94 total pitches), allowing no runs on the aforementioned two hits and two walks in a game that lasted under two hours.
Smith retired the side 1-2-3 in the second, and in the third, it took just four batters to end the inning. Smith struck out the side in order in the fourth, and in the fifth, the junior walked the first batter he faced, only to strike out the next three batters in the order.
The LC starter wasn't finished as he once again retired the side by facing three batters again, though Burns had a single to left field for the Wildcats' second and last hit of the game. He was eventually thrown out at third base on a laser by catcher Kendall Vilvens for the first out of the inning.
Lynchburg-Clay (6-2 in the SHAC) ended the game with three straight outs, with the final out of the game coming on a groundout to second base.
"Their guy, (Wes) Smith is a tough lefty and a good pitcher," WHS head coach Chris Veidt said. "He gave us some uncomfortable at-bats. When you talk about pitch selection, the guys are still learning. We could have been more aggressive early in the count, but Smith had a lot to do with that too."
Smith's counterpart from Whiteoak, Carraher also pitched a gem, allowing just four hits and having allowed no earned runs in the start. Carraher finished with one unearned run allowed on four hits, three walks and one hit batter. The freshman struck out five.
In his last inning on the mound, Carraher faced three batters, striking out two of those final batters.
"it was good to see Chase to have a start like that," Veidt said. "When he throws strikes, he's effective. That was his best start of the season, against the best team he's faced as well.
"He deserved a better fate. We are good enough to win, and once we learn how to play more consistently, we'll win those one-run games. It is just a question of what to do at the right time.
"Hopefully we'll get things turned around tomorrow. We missed a couple signs and had the error in the outfield …. it is the little things that are costing us right now. That's where we are at."
In his previous outing last week, Smith pitched a complete game no-hitter, but lost as the Mustangs allowed two unearned runs. On this night, however, it was the Mustangs who were the ones who won with an unearned run scored, defeating the Whiteoak Wildcats, 1-0 in Southern Hills Athletic Conference play.
The Wildcats (2-4 in the SHAC) were the "away" team on their home field due to field conditions at LCHS, though it was the Mustangs who were able to take advantage of the windy weather conditions to score their lone run.
"Chase Carraher pitched a whale of a ball game against us, and we took advantage of the one time they had the dropped fly ball," LC head coach Garyn Waits said.
LC scored what was the only run of the game in the bottom of the third with two outs. The scoring effort began with Cory Snider taking first base after being hit by a pitch on a 1-1 count and went to second base on a passed ball.
[[In-content Ad]]With a 1-1 count on Morgan Ryan, the LC first baseman lifted the ball to shallow center field, with the pop up landing on the ground (off the glove of the outfielder) following an error in the outfield by the Wildcats as two players failed to call for the catch with two outs.
As the ball hit the ground, Snider scored a run for the 1-0 advantage.
In all, both teams combined for a grand total of six hits, with the Mustangs having four hits and the Wildcats gaining two.
As for the pitching of Smith, on Monday he didn't allow a hit until the third inning with two outs, giving him 9.2 innings of pitching without allowing an earned run or hit in the past two games.
The hit was off the bat of Jacob Burns.
"I'm tickled that this is two times in a row Wes has come out and allowed no earned runs," Waits said. "Defensively, this is the first time I can say all season that was error-free. We didn't kick the ball around, and that's a big step.
"Chris (Veidt) had his team ready to play. It doesn't matter if he has a team of freshmen or loaded up with seniors, they are going to play ball the way he wants them to play and that's scary.
"The guy was ready to go, and after having a day off on Saturday, coming back and playing like we did was nice."
In the first inning, Smith retired the first batter he faced, followed by a walk, but the junior responded with two consecutive strikeouts. Smith finished the game with 12 strikeouts, giving him 22 in his past two games.
In the win, Smith pitched all seven innings (94 total pitches), allowing no runs on the aforementioned two hits and two walks in a game that lasted under two hours.
Smith retired the side 1-2-3 in the second, and in the third, it took just four batters to end the inning. Smith struck out the side in order in the fourth, and in the fifth, the junior walked the first batter he faced, only to strike out the next three batters in the order.
The LC starter wasn't finished as he once again retired the side by facing three batters again, though Burns had a single to left field for the Wildcats' second and last hit of the game. He was eventually thrown out at third base on a laser by catcher Kendall Vilvens for the first out of the inning.
Lynchburg-Clay (6-2 in the SHAC) ended the game with three straight outs, with the final out of the game coming on a groundout to second base.
"Their guy, (Wes) Smith is a tough lefty and a good pitcher," WHS head coach Chris Veidt said. "He gave us some uncomfortable at-bats. When you talk about pitch selection, the guys are still learning. We could have been more aggressive early in the count, but Smith had a lot to do with that too."
Smith's counterpart from Whiteoak, Carraher also pitched a gem, allowing just four hits and having allowed no earned runs in the start. Carraher finished with one unearned run allowed on four hits, three walks and one hit batter. The freshman struck out five.
In his last inning on the mound, Carraher faced three batters, striking out two of those final batters.
"it was good to see Chase to have a start like that," Veidt said. "When he throws strikes, he's effective. That was his best start of the season, against the best team he's faced as well.
"He deserved a better fate. We are good enough to win, and once we learn how to play more consistently, we'll win those one-run games. It is just a question of what to do at the right time.
"Hopefully we'll get things turned around tomorrow. We missed a couple signs and had the error in the outfield …. it is the little things that are costing us right now. That's where we are at."