Plymouth - The Whitko Wildcats 2000 baseball campaign came to an end Saturday at the hands of Class 3A power Plymouth 14-0 in just five innings because of the 10-run rule.

Plymouth lived up to expectations in blanking the Wildcats behind the pitching of senior left-hander Matt Arvesen, who tossed a two-hitter and struck out seven.

Whitko coach John Strayer was impressed with the effort by Arvesen, saying "He kept us off-balance the entire game."Ê

In addition to the shutout performance turned in by Arvesen, the Pilgrim hitting attack numbered 10 hits, eight walks and three hit batsmen.Ê

In Plymouth's half of the second, daring base running highlighted a three-run inning.

Pilgrim center fielder Ben Slein drove a fly ball into deep center, not only scoring Ethan Huff from third but Charley Craig all the way from second, completing the rare two-run sacrifice fly.

Plymouth coach Tony Plothow acknowledged Craig's effort, saying, "We wanted to come out aggressive on the bases early."

The Pilgrims completed the scoring in their half of the fifth, tallying the final eight runs highlighted by a two-run single from Zach Scott, brother of All-State second baseman Mike Scott, and a two-run double off the bat of Dan Caban.

ÊAs for Mike Scott, he scored two runs with a hit and was hit by Whitko pitchers twice. The gritty and talented second baseman is the vital cog to the Plymouth juggernaut as Plothow explains, "Mike's our emotional leader. As Mike goes, so do we. He has recovered from a back injury that forced him to miss eight games, three of which we lost."

Those are the only three losses on the Plymouth schedule to go along with 28 wins.

As for the Whitko team, the Wildcats close out the season with 10 wins, nine more than all of last season. Included was a 9-0 sectional win over Tippecanoe Valley last Monday.Ê

Strayer summed up his season and the sectional by saying, "We improved over last year ... we came in here with nothing to lose. We knew Plymouth had a very talented team, and I have nothing but respect for Plothow and the program he built. This is by far the best team we have faced all season long."

As for Plymouth, the Pilgrims will advance to the their own regional next Saturday when they face Gary Andrean, winner of the Andrean sectional.Ê

Plymouth was able to advance to regional play by edging Mishawaka Marian in the sectional final 2-1.ÊÊ Dan Caban's run-scoring double in the sixth inning that brought home Arvensen was the difference. Marian was able to advance to the final by shutting out Culver Military 13-0 in the afternoon.

PLYMOUTH 14, WHITKO 0, 5 innings

Plymouth 230 18 - 14 10 0

Whitko 000 00 - 0 2 1

Plymouth ab h r rbi

Craig ss 1 1 3 1

B. Slein cf 2 0 0 3

M. Scott 2B 2 1 2 0

Arvesen p 2 0 1 0

Kralovansky pr 0 0 0 0

Simanski ss 3 2 1 2

Z. Scott 3b 3 1 1 2

Caban 1b 2 1 1 2

Carpenter pr 0 0 1 0

Hansen c 4 3 0 0

Foster pr 0 0 1 0

Huff rf 3 1 3 0

Totals 22 10 14 10

Whitko ab h r rbi

Robbins ss/p 3 1 0 0

Waller 2b 2 0 0 0

Baumgartner c/lf 2 0 0 0

Miller 3b/p 2 0 0 0

Ewell p 1 1 0 0

Frantz 3b/ss 1 0 0 0

Ryan 1b 2 0 0 0

Langohr rf 1 0 0 0

Kellogg c 0 0 0 0

Clausen lf/rf 1 0 0 0

Hoffman cf 1 0 0 0

Totals 16 2 0 0

LOB -ÊWhitko 5, Plymouth 7. 2B - Simanski, Caban. Sac -ÊB. Slein (2). SB -ÊZ. Scott, Huff, Craig. CS -ÊB. Slein, Robbins. E -ÊRobbins.

Plymouth ip h r er k bb

Arvesen (W) 5 2 0 0 7 4

Whitko ip h r er k bb

Ewell (L) 3 5 6 5 1 3

Miller 1 1/3 2 4 4 0 3

Robbins 2/3 3 4 4 0 2

WP - Ewell 3, Miller [[In-content Ad]]