Mustangs top Wildcats in rivalry game
Lead Summary
By
The Highland County Press-
MOWRYSTOWN — One day following clinching the Division I Southern Hills League title, the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs continued their winning ways in league play, defeating the Whiteoak Wildcats, 4-3 Wednesday at WHS.
It was a close game between two Highland County rivals (all four LC runs were unearned) with a lot on the line, as LC is going toward the overall league title, as are the Wildcats, who now have two league losses and fall to second-place in Division II of the SHL, one game behind Fayetteville, as the Rockets have just one league loss at 12-9 overall and 10-1 in the SHL.
"This was a very good high school game," LC head coach Garyn Waits said. "We had a gutsy performance all around."
[[In-content Ad]]The Mustangs (10-2, 12-7) scored first with a two-run inning to open the game, followed by the Wildcats answering with one run in the bottom of the first.
In the top of the first with runners on first and second, LC runners scored on a strange turn of events, with a passed ball bouncing off the back stop, then past the catcher, and then past the charging pitcher, allowing two runs to score.
WHS tied the game in the bottom of the second with a run, making it a 2-2 score.
The Wildcats (10-2, 15-6) took the lead in the bottom of the fifth with a run, but the Mustangs scored twice in the top of the seventh and held off WHS in the bottom half of the inning for the one-run win.
"Our situational hitting remains above average as evidenced by Doc Seip's and Gage Carraher's sacrifice flies in the first and second innings," WHS head coach Chris Veidt said. "Justin Emery's base hit bunt and Doc then scoring from second base in the fifth really pressured their defense.
"In games of this magnitude with two dominating pitchers going head-to-head, it comes down to the team that makes the least mistakes, and (Wednesday) we made more than they did."
For LC, they finished with six hits, with Ryan Inman going 2-for-3 with one RBI. Scott Cawood was 1-for-3, as was Zach Mahoney. Joey Butler was 1-for-3 with one RBI. Chaz Lanier was 1-for-3 with one run, one walk and one RBI. Terry Campbell forced one walk.
Tyler Davidson scored two runs with one walk, while Josh Bauer scored one run.
As for the Wildcats, they totaled four hits with Michael Smith going 2-for-3 (including a triple) with one run scored. Luke Taggert was 1-for-2 with one run, while Justin Emery was 1-for-3 with one RBI.
Gage Carraher finished with a sacrifice fly with one RBI, and Doc Seip had one RBI and one run with a sacrifice fly.
The win on the mound went to Campbell, who improved to 3-2 overall this season. He pitched 6 2-3 innings, allowing three runs (three earned) on four hits and five walks. Campbell struck out nine on 105 pitches.
The save went to Lanier, who pitched 1-3 of an inning, allowing no hits or runs on one pitch.
"Terry Campbell was almost as good as he was last Friday at Eastern," Waits said.
The loss went to Taggert, who pitched seven innings. Taggert (4-2) allowed four runs (none earned) on five hits and three walks. He finished with 10 strikeouts.
"Luke was outstanding on the mound (Wednesday)," Veidt said. "This was a good experience heading into the SHL championship game and tournament play.
"Our guys responded very well offensively in the seventh and first after tough defensive innings. That is a sign of a team that will not quit. We were in a position to tie or win in the bottom of seventh, and that is really all you can ask for as a coach."
LC is scheduled to face Peebles on Thursday at LCHS at 5 p.m. WHS is scheduled to face Fayetteville on Thursday at FHS for the Division II SHL championship.
BOX SCORE
LC 200 000 2 — 4 6 0
WHS 110 010 0 — 3 4 2
It was a close game between two Highland County rivals (all four LC runs were unearned) with a lot on the line, as LC is going toward the overall league title, as are the Wildcats, who now have two league losses and fall to second-place in Division II of the SHL, one game behind Fayetteville, as the Rockets have just one league loss at 12-9 overall and 10-1 in the SHL.
"This was a very good high school game," LC head coach Garyn Waits said. "We had a gutsy performance all around."
[[In-content Ad]]The Mustangs (10-2, 12-7) scored first with a two-run inning to open the game, followed by the Wildcats answering with one run in the bottom of the first.
In the top of the first with runners on first and second, LC runners scored on a strange turn of events, with a passed ball bouncing off the back stop, then past the catcher, and then past the charging pitcher, allowing two runs to score.
WHS tied the game in the bottom of the second with a run, making it a 2-2 score.
The Wildcats (10-2, 15-6) took the lead in the bottom of the fifth with a run, but the Mustangs scored twice in the top of the seventh and held off WHS in the bottom half of the inning for the one-run win.
"Our situational hitting remains above average as evidenced by Doc Seip's and Gage Carraher's sacrifice flies in the first and second innings," WHS head coach Chris Veidt said. "Justin Emery's base hit bunt and Doc then scoring from second base in the fifth really pressured their defense.
"In games of this magnitude with two dominating pitchers going head-to-head, it comes down to the team that makes the least mistakes, and (Wednesday) we made more than they did."
For LC, they finished with six hits, with Ryan Inman going 2-for-3 with one RBI. Scott Cawood was 1-for-3, as was Zach Mahoney. Joey Butler was 1-for-3 with one RBI. Chaz Lanier was 1-for-3 with one run, one walk and one RBI. Terry Campbell forced one walk.
Tyler Davidson scored two runs with one walk, while Josh Bauer scored one run.
As for the Wildcats, they totaled four hits with Michael Smith going 2-for-3 (including a triple) with one run scored. Luke Taggert was 1-for-2 with one run, while Justin Emery was 1-for-3 with one RBI.
Gage Carraher finished with a sacrifice fly with one RBI, and Doc Seip had one RBI and one run with a sacrifice fly.
The win on the mound went to Campbell, who improved to 3-2 overall this season. He pitched 6 2-3 innings, allowing three runs (three earned) on four hits and five walks. Campbell struck out nine on 105 pitches.
The save went to Lanier, who pitched 1-3 of an inning, allowing no hits or runs on one pitch.
"Terry Campbell was almost as good as he was last Friday at Eastern," Waits said.
The loss went to Taggert, who pitched seven innings. Taggert (4-2) allowed four runs (none earned) on five hits and three walks. He finished with 10 strikeouts.
"Luke was outstanding on the mound (Wednesday)," Veidt said. "This was a good experience heading into the SHL championship game and tournament play.
"Our guys responded very well offensively in the seventh and first after tough defensive innings. That is a sign of a team that will not quit. We were in a position to tie or win in the bottom of seventh, and that is really all you can ask for as a coach."
LC is scheduled to face Peebles on Thursday at LCHS at 5 p.m. WHS is scheduled to face Fayetteville on Thursday at FHS for the Division II SHL championship.
BOX SCORE
LC 200 000 2 — 4 6 0
WHS 110 010 0 — 3 4 2