Whiteoak hangs on to defeat Fairfield

LEESBURG — Being down three runs after two innings wasn't nearly enough to keep the young Whiteoak Wildcats down for the count.

In fact, they were able to not only take the lead later in their Southern Hills Athletic Conference game with the host Fairfield Lions, but they were able to fend off a late surge by the Lions to take home a 6-5 win Tuesday.

"Seems like more often than not when we play Fairfield, it is a back-and-forth game like it was (Tuesday)," WHS head coach Chris Veidt said.

Before the Wildcats could make their comeback, the Lions were in charge of the rivalry game early on with two runs in the first and one run in the second.

The first inning saw the Lions plate Cody Gragg and Hunter Dixon, as Gragg took first on a single and Dixon on a fielder's choice. Klay Walker knocked in Gragg off a single in the inning. Dixon scored on a groundout to first base by Mason Cain.

Fairfield's run in the second inning came with Randy Lamme scoring a run off a RBI by Walker.

"We jumped out early on them, but knowing Whiteoak and a good team like they are, we knew they were going to fight back," FHS head coach Tony Haley said. "I saw a lot of good things. We had some clutch hits … they did also.

"They made some better plays than we did. We’re seeing a lot of good things out of our young guys, but it is tough not having a true senior leader (FHS has no seniors on the roster), but we are getting better."

The Wildcats scored their first run of the game in the third with Jacob Burns rounding the bases off an RBI single from Brandon Lowe. Burns took to the bases on a five-pitch walk, followed by taking second and third bases on two passed balls.

In the fifth, the Wildcats scored three runs to take a 4-3 advantage.

Scoring the runs for the Wildcats were Chase Carraher, Kyle Marler and Trever Yeager with RBIs from Marler and Lowe. In the inning, the Wildcats had two hits and three stolen bases, while the Lions committed three errors.

Marler finished 2-for-2 with two walks, one run and one RBI.

"Kyle had two big clutch singles, and our situational hitting was what I like to see. It was huge," Veidt said.

WHS added two more runs in the sixth with Carraher scoring his second run of the game and Zack Taggett rounding the bases as well. Spencer Michael and Marler each had RBIs in the inning to move the Wildcats ahead, 6-3.

Fairfield wasn't finished and made the game interesting in the bottom of the sixth with Lamme and Hurless scoring runs with Walker knocking in one of the two runs.

In the seventh, the Lions reached the bases on an infield error to lead-off the inning, but a diving catch by Michael on a bunt began a 5-3 double play. After diving for the baseball and making the rolling catch, Michael was able to double up the runner at first for the double play, eventually leading to the WHS victory.

"The great thing about that catch was he booted the ball the play before, and the next time it was hit to him, he came back and made a great play," Veidt said. "We made things tough on ourselves at times, but we were able not to let the game get us down.

"We are thinking right for a young bunch."

For the game, the Wildcats totaled six hits (six walks), while the Lions had three hits (no walks).

Burns was the winning pitcher for the Wildcats, finishing with three strikeouts. Burns allowed three runs (one earned). Through the first five innings, Burns had just 54 pitches and ended the game with 80 total.

"Jake pitched a great game," Veidt said. "We didn't play the best defense behind him. The one thing we've been improving on is our ability to throw and catch."

Pitching for the Lions were Macky Jones and Wyatt Harris.

"We were hoping to get three or four innings out of Macky and we did, and Wyatt has pitched in a couple JV games this year," Haley said. "He's raw and looked pretty good in his appearance. He had an awesome outing."