Vikings Fall Flat In Sectional Loss To Whitko
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
PLYMOUTH -ÊAccording to the whispers in the crowd and through the pressbox Tuesday night in Plymouth, Whitko (9-14) and Tippecanoe Valley (10-16) were the two most evenly matched teams in the sectional.
Earlier in the season, the teams split a doubleheader. The Vikings' only Three Rivers Conference win came to the Wildcats. However, as evenly matched as the teams were on paper, that did not carry over to the field.
Whitko wanted to avenge that conference loss. And avenge it they did. Whitko defeated Valley 9-0 to advance to the second round of the Plymouth Sectional Saturday at 11 a.m.
Whitko took control of the game after a strong first inning.
"We came out ready to play," said Whitko coach John Strayer. "We knew we could play with Valley, and we came out strong. Coming off strong in the first inning was the key to the win."
Brandon Waller triggered Whitko with a one-out single, when Jimmy Baumgartner reached first on and error by the short stop and James Miller singled to load the bases. Pitcher Jason Ewell stepped to the plate and hit a two-run single to put Whitko up 2-0.
But the Wildcats were not finished. Ben Ryan stepped up next and hit a single to send Miller across the plate. Gabe Langohr and Anthony Clausen walked to load the bases again when Josh Hoffman hit into a double play to end the inning.
After the scoring onslaught in the bottom of the first, all was quiet until the top of the fourth.
Valley's Drew Deardorff reached first on an error by the third baseman and moved to second on a single by Wes Backus. Then Swanson walked to load the bases with two outs. However, the Vikings were unable to score when a ground ball rolled to second base for the third out.
Backus' single in the top fourth ended up being Valley's only hit of the game, and Whitko went on to score two runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings and one in the sixth to finish with the 9-0 victory.
"The kids were fired up," said Strayer. "When things went wrong they didn't let it get them down. We lost all but one game in the last two weeks after we lost one of our vocal leaders (Justin Juillerat) to the (U.S.) Army. He was the one who used to really pull people up."
Whitko junior Jason Ewell went the distance the win on the mound, striking out 12, walking three and giving up just one hit.
"Jason Ewell pitched really well for us," said Strayer. "This was his best game of the season."
"We knew they would probably throw Ewell," said Valley coach Scott Backus. "He throws a lot of junk, and we didn't make the adjustments we needed to hit the ball. We watched his fastball go by, so we had to deal with his junk."
Valley's Caleb Shewman was charged with the loss after pitching 3 1/3 innings with five hits, five walks and two strikeouts.
"We pitched the ball well again," said Backus. "We made them hit, but we missed routine plays in the field. We didn't hit the ball to help support our pitchers."
The Vikings finish the season 10-18, while Whitko improves to 10-14. The Wildcats will face 26-3 Plymouth, who defeated Rochester 12-4 in the first game of the evening, at 11 a.m. Saturday.
"We are not expected to win the sectional," said Strayer, "so we have nothing to lose. Plymouth is tough and they will be ready to play. Their one through nine hitters are all solid, and they can really rip the ball. They have a good pitching staff as well. They are a solid all-around team."
WHITKO 9, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 0
Valley 000 000 0 - 0 1 4
Whitko 400 221 X - 9 7 5
Valley ab r h rbi
Cunningham 3b 2 0 0 0
Sausaman 2b 2 0 0 0
Eby cf 3 0 0 0
Deardorff 1b 3 0 0 0
Backus c 3 0 1 0
Shilling lf 3 0 0 0
Swanson ss 1 0 0 0
Jackson ph 1 0 0 0
Shewman p 2 0 0 0
Haney ph 1 0 0 0
Snyder rf 2 0 0 0
Schwenk ph 1 0 0 0
Totals 24 0 1 0
Whitko ab r h rbi
Robbins ss 4 1 1 1
Waller 2b 3 1 1 0
Baumgartner c 2 2 0 1
Miller 3b 3 1 1 1
Ewell p 3 1 1 2
Hike pr 0 0 0 0
Ryan 1b 4 0 2 1
Reed pr 0 1 0 0
Frantz pr 0 0 0 0
Langohr rf 2 0 0 0
Clausen lf 2 0 0 1
Hoffman cf 3 2 1 0
Totals 26 9 7 7
LOB -ÊValley 6, Whitko 8. E -ÊRobbins (2), Swanson (3), Miller (2), Baumgartner, Sausaman. Sac -ÊMiller. SB -ÊReed, Baumgartner, Frantz. CS -ÊCunningham. DP -ÊValley 1, Whitko 1.
Valley ip r er h bb k
Shewman, L 3.1 6 4 5 5 2
Deardorff 2.2 3 1 2 3 3
Whitko ip r er h bb k
Ewell, W 7 0 0 1 3 12
WP -ÊDeardorff. PB - Baumgartner, Backus 3. [[In-content Ad]]
PLYMOUTH -ÊAccording to the whispers in the crowd and through the pressbox Tuesday night in Plymouth, Whitko (9-14) and Tippecanoe Valley (10-16) were the two most evenly matched teams in the sectional.
Earlier in the season, the teams split a doubleheader. The Vikings' only Three Rivers Conference win came to the Wildcats. However, as evenly matched as the teams were on paper, that did not carry over to the field.
Whitko wanted to avenge that conference loss. And avenge it they did. Whitko defeated Valley 9-0 to advance to the second round of the Plymouth Sectional Saturday at 11 a.m.
Whitko took control of the game after a strong first inning.
"We came out ready to play," said Whitko coach John Strayer. "We knew we could play with Valley, and we came out strong. Coming off strong in the first inning was the key to the win."
Brandon Waller triggered Whitko with a one-out single, when Jimmy Baumgartner reached first on and error by the short stop and James Miller singled to load the bases. Pitcher Jason Ewell stepped to the plate and hit a two-run single to put Whitko up 2-0.
But the Wildcats were not finished. Ben Ryan stepped up next and hit a single to send Miller across the plate. Gabe Langohr and Anthony Clausen walked to load the bases again when Josh Hoffman hit into a double play to end the inning.
After the scoring onslaught in the bottom of the first, all was quiet until the top of the fourth.
Valley's Drew Deardorff reached first on an error by the third baseman and moved to second on a single by Wes Backus. Then Swanson walked to load the bases with two outs. However, the Vikings were unable to score when a ground ball rolled to second base for the third out.
Backus' single in the top fourth ended up being Valley's only hit of the game, and Whitko went on to score two runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings and one in the sixth to finish with the 9-0 victory.
"The kids were fired up," said Strayer. "When things went wrong they didn't let it get them down. We lost all but one game in the last two weeks after we lost one of our vocal leaders (Justin Juillerat) to the (U.S.) Army. He was the one who used to really pull people up."
Whitko junior Jason Ewell went the distance the win on the mound, striking out 12, walking three and giving up just one hit.
"Jason Ewell pitched really well for us," said Strayer. "This was his best game of the season."
"We knew they would probably throw Ewell," said Valley coach Scott Backus. "He throws a lot of junk, and we didn't make the adjustments we needed to hit the ball. We watched his fastball go by, so we had to deal with his junk."
Valley's Caleb Shewman was charged with the loss after pitching 3 1/3 innings with five hits, five walks and two strikeouts.
"We pitched the ball well again," said Backus. "We made them hit, but we missed routine plays in the field. We didn't hit the ball to help support our pitchers."
The Vikings finish the season 10-18, while Whitko improves to 10-14. The Wildcats will face 26-3 Plymouth, who defeated Rochester 12-4 in the first game of the evening, at 11 a.m. Saturday.
"We are not expected to win the sectional," said Strayer, "so we have nothing to lose. Plymouth is tough and they will be ready to play. Their one through nine hitters are all solid, and they can really rip the ball. They have a good pitching staff as well. They are a solid all-around team."
WHITKO 9, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 0
Valley 000 000 0 - 0 1 4
Whitko 400 221 X - 9 7 5
Valley ab r h rbi
Cunningham 3b 2 0 0 0
Sausaman 2b 2 0 0 0
Eby cf 3 0 0 0
Deardorff 1b 3 0 0 0
Backus c 3 0 1 0
Shilling lf 3 0 0 0
Swanson ss 1 0 0 0
Jackson ph 1 0 0 0
Shewman p 2 0 0 0
Haney ph 1 0 0 0
Snyder rf 2 0 0 0
Schwenk ph 1 0 0 0
Totals 24 0 1 0
Whitko ab r h rbi
Robbins ss 4 1 1 1
Waller 2b 3 1 1 0
Baumgartner c 2 2 0 1
Miller 3b 3 1 1 1
Ewell p 3 1 1 2
Hike pr 0 0 0 0
Ryan 1b 4 0 2 1
Reed pr 0 1 0 0
Frantz pr 0 0 0 0
Langohr rf 2 0 0 0
Clausen lf 2 0 0 1
Hoffman cf 3 2 1 0
Totals 26 9 7 7
LOB -ÊValley 6, Whitko 8. E -ÊRobbins (2), Swanson (3), Miller (2), Baumgartner, Sausaman. Sac -ÊMiller. SB -ÊReed, Baumgartner, Frantz. CS -ÊCunningham. DP -ÊValley 1, Whitko 1.
Valley ip r er h bb k
Shewman, L 3.1 6 4 5 5 2
Deardorff 2.2 3 1 2 3 3
Whitko ip r er h bb k
Ewell, W 7 0 0 1 3 12
WP -ÊDeardorff. PB - Baumgartner, Backus 3. [[In-content Ad]]