Two-out hits lead to Whiteoak win over Mustangs in pitchers’ duel
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN — Baseball is described as a game of inches where momentum can swing from one side to the other in an instant. On Tuesday night, the Whiteoak Wildcats gained the momentum of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference game with their two-out hitting in the fifth inning to defeat rival Lynchburg-Clay, 3-0.
The Wildcats took the lead off a two-out base hit against their Highland County foe Lynchburg-Clay in the fifth inning, then added two more runs with extra-base hitting and taking advantage of an error for the eventual three-run win.
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Whiteoak scored their first run of the game, beginning with Chase Butler taking first on a one-out walk. Next, Butler stole second base, and following the second out of the inning, on a fly ball hit to left field, the Wildcats brought home the first run of the game. WHS did so with a two-out double — on a 1-2 count — off the bat of Traeten Hamilton, scoring Butler from second base.
The Wildcats (7-0, 11-0) added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for what was the final 3-0 score. WHS began the inning with a triple hit to deep centerfield by Trever Yeager on a 1-1 count. Yeager scored on the ensuing at-bat off an infield error by the Mustangs (on a squeeze play), allowing Caleb West to be called safe at first base.
Following the first out of the inning, West, who was at second base, moved to third after the ball was dropped on a tag at the base, allowing West to be called safe. Mason Lehr made it a three-run advantage with a single to right-centerfield to score West with two outs. Also reaching base in the inning was Butler on a walk, and Joey Oliver stole second base as a pinch runner for Lehr.
“Traeten got us started there and broke the ice a little bit, and Caleb with the squeeze play, that was huge, and Mason coming through with a big two-out hit in the sixth for a little bit of insurance,” WHS head coach Chris Veidt said. “It wasn’t like three was a lot of runs, but three was enough today, as sharp as Evan (Brill) was on the mound.
“We were talking about what we were going to do in practice, and I asked Coach (DJ) O’Cull what is something we need to practice on and his reply was ‘bunts.’ That was one thing we worked on in practice Monday, and today Caleb – and it is no secret he’s our best hitter, he’s our cleanup hitter and I would argue with anybody that he is probably the best hitter in the league – but he can also bunt. That was huge, and we needed that at the time. Games this close are easy to sum up … Traeten, Mason, Caleb, Evan and our defense … and our aggression on the base paths was key.”
The SHAC game was competitive through the first four innings as well, as pitcher Evan Brill and Lynchburg-Clay’s Drew Pitzer both gave the fans high value for the price of admission with each pitching the first four innings of scoreless baseball.
Lynchburg-Clay (5-2, 6-3) was first to reach the bases in the game with Pitzer at the plate, forcing a five-pitch walk. Pitzer also stole second base with one out but was left stranded as Whiteoak’s Brill forced a pop up to the shortstop and a strikeout to end the inning.
“We hit the ball hard right at them a few times, and hats off to Whiteoak, they hit in the right spots, found the gaps, and hats off to Brill, who threw a heck of a game,” LC head coach Vince Pitzer said. “Drew threw a heck of a game too, but we had to cut him off so we could have him Friday.
“Whiteoak did enough, executed on bunts and hit when they needed to with runners on … that’s baseball.”
Pitzer retired the Wildcats in order in the bottom of the first, including a strikeout for the second out of the inning. In the top of the second, the Mustangs led off the inning with a single to shallow centerfield (forcing the outfielder to dive for the ball) by Blake Croy, but the pitching of Brill left Croy on the bases as the WHS senior forced a hit back to the mound, a strikeout on a called third strike and a ground out to second base.
LC’s Pitzer shined in his second inning on the mound, again, retiring the Wildcats in order, this time with two ground outs and a fly ball hit to left field.
The same occurred for Brill on the mound in the top of the third with the Mustangs being retired in order off a strikeout, a fly ball and a ground out.
Whiteoak made the game very interesting in the bottom of the third with a line drive base hit to left field by Brill to lead off the inning. Next was a single to right field by Butler. Following a steal by Butler to give WHS runners on second and third, Brill was out at home on a fielder’s choice where Pitzer threw the runner out at home with a tag by Josh Wolfe. Still needing two outs to back off the WHS threat, Pitzer struck out the next two batters on eight combined pitches.
The most impressive inning of pitching for the game came in the top of the fourth with Brill needing just five pitches to retire the side in order off two straight fly ball outs and a called third strike.
WHS threatened again in the bottom of the fourth with Chase Carraher taking to the bases on a two-out double hit to left field. Carraher reached third base on a wild pitch, but the ensuing batter was out on a called third strike thrown by Pitzer to end the inning.
The Mustangs had a threatening inning of their own in the top of the sixth with Austin Proctor forcing a walk on a full count as LC trailed by one run. Proctor moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Damin Pierson for the first out of the inning. Next, the out was recorded as Brill fielded a ground ball and got the out by throwing out the runner from his knees. Brill finished the inning with a called third strikeout, leaving Proctor stranded at third base.
Brill was the winning pitcher for the Wildcats, pitching a complete game (seven innings). Brill allowed no runs in a shutout win, giving up one hit and three walks as he also collected seven strikeouts.
“We played good defense behind Evan, and again, he was sharp today,” Veidt said. “Lynchburg-Clay’s pitcher (Pitzer) threw a nice game. It was a good solid baseball game.
“Evan’s first start or two, his change-up was his second best pitch, but he’s made some adjustments on his curveball, and he had a very good curveball tonight.”
The loss went to Pitzer, allowing one run in five innings of work. Pitzer also allowed four hits and one walk, while striking five. Caden Hess pitched one inning of relief, allowing two runs (both unearned) on two hits and one walk.
“We played well, and coming off five games in four days, it might take us a day to get back in stride with our bats, but I told the guys to have a short-term memory because we have three more games this week and to put this one behind us,” Pitzer said. “There is nothing to gripe about for me, and this was a heck of a ballgame.”
The Wildcats took the lead off a two-out base hit against their Highland County foe Lynchburg-Clay in the fifth inning, then added two more runs with extra-base hitting and taking advantage of an error for the eventual three-run win.
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Whiteoak scored their first run of the game, beginning with Chase Butler taking first on a one-out walk. Next, Butler stole second base, and following the second out of the inning, on a fly ball hit to left field, the Wildcats brought home the first run of the game. WHS did so with a two-out double — on a 1-2 count — off the bat of Traeten Hamilton, scoring Butler from second base.
The Wildcats (7-0, 11-0) added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for what was the final 3-0 score. WHS began the inning with a triple hit to deep centerfield by Trever Yeager on a 1-1 count. Yeager scored on the ensuing at-bat off an infield error by the Mustangs (on a squeeze play), allowing Caleb West to be called safe at first base.
Following the first out of the inning, West, who was at second base, moved to third after the ball was dropped on a tag at the base, allowing West to be called safe. Mason Lehr made it a three-run advantage with a single to right-centerfield to score West with two outs. Also reaching base in the inning was Butler on a walk, and Joey Oliver stole second base as a pinch runner for Lehr.
“Traeten got us started there and broke the ice a little bit, and Caleb with the squeeze play, that was huge, and Mason coming through with a big two-out hit in the sixth for a little bit of insurance,” WHS head coach Chris Veidt said. “It wasn’t like three was a lot of runs, but three was enough today, as sharp as Evan (Brill) was on the mound.
“We were talking about what we were going to do in practice, and I asked Coach (DJ) O’Cull what is something we need to practice on and his reply was ‘bunts.’ That was one thing we worked on in practice Monday, and today Caleb – and it is no secret he’s our best hitter, he’s our cleanup hitter and I would argue with anybody that he is probably the best hitter in the league – but he can also bunt. That was huge, and we needed that at the time. Games this close are easy to sum up … Traeten, Mason, Caleb, Evan and our defense … and our aggression on the base paths was key.”
The SHAC game was competitive through the first four innings as well, as pitcher Evan Brill and Lynchburg-Clay’s Drew Pitzer both gave the fans high value for the price of admission with each pitching the first four innings of scoreless baseball.
Lynchburg-Clay (5-2, 6-3) was first to reach the bases in the game with Pitzer at the plate, forcing a five-pitch walk. Pitzer also stole second base with one out but was left stranded as Whiteoak’s Brill forced a pop up to the shortstop and a strikeout to end the inning.
“We hit the ball hard right at them a few times, and hats off to Whiteoak, they hit in the right spots, found the gaps, and hats off to Brill, who threw a heck of a game,” LC head coach Vince Pitzer said. “Drew threw a heck of a game too, but we had to cut him off so we could have him Friday.
“Whiteoak did enough, executed on bunts and hit when they needed to with runners on … that’s baseball.”
Pitzer retired the Wildcats in order in the bottom of the first, including a strikeout for the second out of the inning. In the top of the second, the Mustangs led off the inning with a single to shallow centerfield (forcing the outfielder to dive for the ball) by Blake Croy, but the pitching of Brill left Croy on the bases as the WHS senior forced a hit back to the mound, a strikeout on a called third strike and a ground out to second base.
LC’s Pitzer shined in his second inning on the mound, again, retiring the Wildcats in order, this time with two ground outs and a fly ball hit to left field.
The same occurred for Brill on the mound in the top of the third with the Mustangs being retired in order off a strikeout, a fly ball and a ground out.
Whiteoak made the game very interesting in the bottom of the third with a line drive base hit to left field by Brill to lead off the inning. Next was a single to right field by Butler. Following a steal by Butler to give WHS runners on second and third, Brill was out at home on a fielder’s choice where Pitzer threw the runner out at home with a tag by Josh Wolfe. Still needing two outs to back off the WHS threat, Pitzer struck out the next two batters on eight combined pitches.
The most impressive inning of pitching for the game came in the top of the fourth with Brill needing just five pitches to retire the side in order off two straight fly ball outs and a called third strike.
WHS threatened again in the bottom of the fourth with Chase Carraher taking to the bases on a two-out double hit to left field. Carraher reached third base on a wild pitch, but the ensuing batter was out on a called third strike thrown by Pitzer to end the inning.
The Mustangs had a threatening inning of their own in the top of the sixth with Austin Proctor forcing a walk on a full count as LC trailed by one run. Proctor moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Damin Pierson for the first out of the inning. Next, the out was recorded as Brill fielded a ground ball and got the out by throwing out the runner from his knees. Brill finished the inning with a called third strikeout, leaving Proctor stranded at third base.
Brill was the winning pitcher for the Wildcats, pitching a complete game (seven innings). Brill allowed no runs in a shutout win, giving up one hit and three walks as he also collected seven strikeouts.
“We played good defense behind Evan, and again, he was sharp today,” Veidt said. “Lynchburg-Clay’s pitcher (Pitzer) threw a nice game. It was a good solid baseball game.
“Evan’s first start or two, his change-up was his second best pitch, but he’s made some adjustments on his curveball, and he had a very good curveball tonight.”
The loss went to Pitzer, allowing one run in five innings of work. Pitzer also allowed four hits and one walk, while striking five. Caden Hess pitched one inning of relief, allowing two runs (both unearned) on two hits and one walk.
“We played well, and coming off five games in four days, it might take us a day to get back in stride with our bats, but I told the guys to have a short-term memory because we have three more games this week and to put this one behind us,” Pitzer said. “There is nothing to gripe about for me, and this was a heck of a ballgame.”