Valley Baseball Team Beats TRC Foe Whitko
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Dale [email protected]
It was evident in the fourth inning especially, as the Vikings scored six runs with two outs, building a 7-1 lead before hanging on for a 9-6 win over the Wildcats.
“I definitely think we had a little more energy in the dugout, and a little more life to come play today,” said Valley coach Justin Branock, whose team improved to 4-3 in the Three Rivers Conference standings.
“We got off to a little better start,” continued Branock. “(Brandon) Webster did a good job on the mound for four innings. They only got two runs through the four innings off him. Whenever you have a guy on the mound that’s throwing pretty well, the rest of the team kind of feeds off that, and I think that happened tonight.”
Webster, pitching for just the second time this season, was credited with the win on the mound, giving up four hits and two runs in four innings while walking five and striking out four.
Tanner Gaff started on the mound for the Wildcats and gave up six hits, seven runs and four walks in four innings of work. He struck out five Valley batters.
Though the Vikings were able to score in the third inning after Gavin Bussard drew a walk, advanced on Alec Craig’s sacrifice and then scored on Luke Helton’s sac-fly, Gaff and the Whitko defense kept them hitless until the fourth inning.
Webster, Valley’s second batter in the bottom of the fourth inning, ripped Valley’s first hit, a single.
Jarred Littlejohn then reached on an error, before Eric Hammer struck out for the inning’s second out.
That’s when the Vikings came to life, as Garrett Bell, Bussard, Craig, Helton and Drake Hyden hit consecutive singles and produced six runs to give the home team a 7-1 advantage.
“I think our guys got a little more comfortable hitting off Gaff after seeing him a couple innings,” said Branock. “Gaff’s a good arm. Every time he throws for Whitko, they’re gonna be tough to beat. After a couple innings of our guys seeing him, they kind of had an idea how to attack him a little bit. I think that was a little bit of it ... we also stole a few bases and kinda stretched a little bit, even ran when we shouldn’t have, just to force them to make plays. The biggest thing was we needed to create something, so that’s what we tried to do in the fourth inning.”
The Wildcats, who tied the game 1-1 in the top of the fourth inning, scored one run in the fifth and four more in the sixth to cut the deficit to 7-6.
Valley pushed the advantage to 9-6 with two runs in the sixth inning and then kept Whitko from scoring in the seventh to secure the win.
“Give them credit, because after the hit that made it 3-1, if they don’t add any more runs or string together some good at-bats it’s a completely different ball game,” said Whitko coach Erik Hisner, whose team fell to 5-2 in the TRC. “A lot of credit on Valley’s part for being able to grind out some at-bats and score some runs. It was a lack of execution on our part right there.”
Valley outhit Whitko 8-5.
Craig and Hyden had two hits each for the Vikings, while Zach Snep led the Wildcats with two hits.
Valley is in action again Friday at Concord, while Whitko travels to Prairie Heights Saturday for a doubleheader.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 9, WHITKO 6
Whi 000 114 0 – 6
TV 001 602 X – 9
Whitko – Tanner Gaff (L, 4IP, 6H, 7R, 5K, 4BB), Riley Anderson (2IP, 2H, 2R, 0K, 2BB)
Valley – Brandon Webster (W, 3H, 2R, 4K, 5BB), Austin Perdieu (1-2/3IP, 1H, 4R, 2K, 6BB), Alec Craig (1/3IP, 1H, 0R, 1K, 3BB)
TRC Records: Whitko 5-2, Valley 4-3[[In-content Ad]]
E-Editions
It was evident in the fourth inning especially, as the Vikings scored six runs with two outs, building a 7-1 lead before hanging on for a 9-6 win over the Wildcats.
“I definitely think we had a little more energy in the dugout, and a little more life to come play today,” said Valley coach Justin Branock, whose team improved to 4-3 in the Three Rivers Conference standings.
“We got off to a little better start,” continued Branock. “(Brandon) Webster did a good job on the mound for four innings. They only got two runs through the four innings off him. Whenever you have a guy on the mound that’s throwing pretty well, the rest of the team kind of feeds off that, and I think that happened tonight.”
Webster, pitching for just the second time this season, was credited with the win on the mound, giving up four hits and two runs in four innings while walking five and striking out four.
Tanner Gaff started on the mound for the Wildcats and gave up six hits, seven runs and four walks in four innings of work. He struck out five Valley batters.
Though the Vikings were able to score in the third inning after Gavin Bussard drew a walk, advanced on Alec Craig’s sacrifice and then scored on Luke Helton’s sac-fly, Gaff and the Whitko defense kept them hitless until the fourth inning.
Webster, Valley’s second batter in the bottom of the fourth inning, ripped Valley’s first hit, a single.
Jarred Littlejohn then reached on an error, before Eric Hammer struck out for the inning’s second out.
That’s when the Vikings came to life, as Garrett Bell, Bussard, Craig, Helton and Drake Hyden hit consecutive singles and produced six runs to give the home team a 7-1 advantage.
“I think our guys got a little more comfortable hitting off Gaff after seeing him a couple innings,” said Branock. “Gaff’s a good arm. Every time he throws for Whitko, they’re gonna be tough to beat. After a couple innings of our guys seeing him, they kind of had an idea how to attack him a little bit. I think that was a little bit of it ... we also stole a few bases and kinda stretched a little bit, even ran when we shouldn’t have, just to force them to make plays. The biggest thing was we needed to create something, so that’s what we tried to do in the fourth inning.”
The Wildcats, who tied the game 1-1 in the top of the fourth inning, scored one run in the fifth and four more in the sixth to cut the deficit to 7-6.
Valley pushed the advantage to 9-6 with two runs in the sixth inning and then kept Whitko from scoring in the seventh to secure the win.
“Give them credit, because after the hit that made it 3-1, if they don’t add any more runs or string together some good at-bats it’s a completely different ball game,” said Whitko coach Erik Hisner, whose team fell to 5-2 in the TRC. “A lot of credit on Valley’s part for being able to grind out some at-bats and score some runs. It was a lack of execution on our part right there.”
Valley outhit Whitko 8-5.
Craig and Hyden had two hits each for the Vikings, while Zach Snep led the Wildcats with two hits.
Valley is in action again Friday at Concord, while Whitko travels to Prairie Heights Saturday for a doubleheader.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 9, WHITKO 6
Whi 000 114 0 – 6
TV 001 602 X – 9
Whitko – Tanner Gaff (L, 4IP, 6H, 7R, 5K, 4BB), Riley Anderson (2IP, 2H, 2R, 0K, 2BB)
Valley – Brandon Webster (W, 3H, 2R, 4K, 5BB), Austin Perdieu (1-2/3IP, 1H, 4R, 2K, 6BB), Alec Craig (1/3IP, 1H, 0R, 1K, 3BB)
TRC Records: Whitko 5-2, Valley 4-3[[In-content Ad]]
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092