Whitko Baseball Team Tops Rival Squires
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Meeting up on the Whitko High School baseball diamond for a Three Rivers Conference affair, the Wildcats (15-5, 3-1 TRC) scored six runs on just three hits, downing the Squires (6-10, 2-2 TRC) by a 6-3 count.
“Our guys stuck with it,” Whitko coach Erik Hisner said. “We drew a couple walks, had some good at-bats and then we kind of do what we do, which is steal some bases, put the ball in play and kind of chip away.”
A couple of those walks came to start the fourth, when the Squires were up 1-0.
Trailing by a run, Whitko’s Ethan Nicodemus and Ryan Weigold drew back-to-back walks to begin the fourth, then Austin Mort reach on an error.
With the bases loaded with no outs, Wes Gensch drove in a run on a sacrifice fly and Alex Stoddard followed with an RBI groundout.
Whitko scored its third run on a wild pitch, and once the inning was over, the Wildcats had taken a 3-1 lead without needing to get a hit in the game.
“You walk the first two batters of an inning and you're asking for trouble,” Manchester coach Jack Rupley said. “We can't do that. No good teams can do that, because that's going to come back and haunt you later. Sure enough, that inning it did.”
The Squires had a chance to answer back in the fifth after Logan Brunn led off with a single.
However, Brunn was caught stealing and Caleb Thomas blooped a ball just out of the infield, but Whitko second baseman Colin Nicodemus made an outstanding diving catch to rob him of a hit.
Had Whitko catcher Riley Cokl not thrown out Brunn at second, Manchester may have gotten a big inning, but he did make the out and the Squires got nothing out of the frame.
“If we don't do that, then, we're holding the runner at double-play depth, and that (Thoms hit) is probably a single,” Hisner said. “That was definitely a big defensive inning.”
On the flip-side, the Squires struggled with their defense in the bottom of the fifth after Colin Nicodemus hit a one-out single.
After stealing second and third base, Nicodemus stood at third with Ethan Nicodemus at the plate.
With his cousin standing at third, Ethan hit a soft roller that caught Colin off the bag.
Attempting to get Colin out, the Squires threw to third, but he slid in safely.
Making things even worse for Manchester, no one was covering second base, which allowed Ethan to get into scoring position.
The cousins eventually scored in the inning, Colin on an single by Weigold and Ethan on a passed ball, giving the Wildcats a 5-2 lead.
“It's the mental stuff that's really getting to us,” Rupley said. “We gotta clean that stuff up. We have to.”
Gensch, who will play for Grace College next year, was the winning pitcher, going 5-1/3 innings, allowing four hits and striking out four, with Weigold getting the six-out save, striking out two.
Brunn was hit with the loss, despite going six innings and allowing just three hits.
“We're right there,” Rupley said. “If we just do a couple little things a little differently, then we're still in good shape.”
The Wildcats now join Wabash in a second-place tie in the TRC at 3-1, trailing Class 2A No. 1 Northfield, which is 4-0 in the conference.
“We're keeping our conference hopes alive,” Hisner said. “We have a big one (today) against North Miami and that's a must win if we want to stay in the hunt.”
The game with North Miami is actually a continuation from an April 30 game that was shortened because of rain.
With the rain falling, Whitko fell behind 1-0 after one inning when the game was called.
Today’s game, which is back at Whitko, will begin where the rainout game ended.
The Squires are also in action today, taking on Northfield in North Manchester.
WHITKO 6, MANCHESTER 3
M 100 101 0 – 3 4 2
W 000 321 x – 6 3 4
Wes Gensch (W, 5-1/3IP, 3R, 2ER, 4H, 4K, 2BB, 1HB), Ryan Weigold (6, S, 1-2/3IP, 0R, 2K) and Riley Cokl; Logan Brunn (L, 6IP, 6R, 4ER, 3H, 4K, 4BB) and Jim Sainsbury
Records: Whitko 15-5 (3-1 TRC), Manchester 6-10 (2-2 TRC)[[In-content Ad]]
Meeting up on the Whitko High School baseball diamond for a Three Rivers Conference affair, the Wildcats (15-5, 3-1 TRC) scored six runs on just three hits, downing the Squires (6-10, 2-2 TRC) by a 6-3 count.
“Our guys stuck with it,” Whitko coach Erik Hisner said. “We drew a couple walks, had some good at-bats and then we kind of do what we do, which is steal some bases, put the ball in play and kind of chip away.”
A couple of those walks came to start the fourth, when the Squires were up 1-0.
Trailing by a run, Whitko’s Ethan Nicodemus and Ryan Weigold drew back-to-back walks to begin the fourth, then Austin Mort reach on an error.
With the bases loaded with no outs, Wes Gensch drove in a run on a sacrifice fly and Alex Stoddard followed with an RBI groundout.
Whitko scored its third run on a wild pitch, and once the inning was over, the Wildcats had taken a 3-1 lead without needing to get a hit in the game.
“You walk the first two batters of an inning and you're asking for trouble,” Manchester coach Jack Rupley said. “We can't do that. No good teams can do that, because that's going to come back and haunt you later. Sure enough, that inning it did.”
The Squires had a chance to answer back in the fifth after Logan Brunn led off with a single.
However, Brunn was caught stealing and Caleb Thomas blooped a ball just out of the infield, but Whitko second baseman Colin Nicodemus made an outstanding diving catch to rob him of a hit.
Had Whitko catcher Riley Cokl not thrown out Brunn at second, Manchester may have gotten a big inning, but he did make the out and the Squires got nothing out of the frame.
“If we don't do that, then, we're holding the runner at double-play depth, and that (Thoms hit) is probably a single,” Hisner said. “That was definitely a big defensive inning.”
On the flip-side, the Squires struggled with their defense in the bottom of the fifth after Colin Nicodemus hit a one-out single.
After stealing second and third base, Nicodemus stood at third with Ethan Nicodemus at the plate.
With his cousin standing at third, Ethan hit a soft roller that caught Colin off the bag.
Attempting to get Colin out, the Squires threw to third, but he slid in safely.
Making things even worse for Manchester, no one was covering second base, which allowed Ethan to get into scoring position.
The cousins eventually scored in the inning, Colin on an single by Weigold and Ethan on a passed ball, giving the Wildcats a 5-2 lead.
“It's the mental stuff that's really getting to us,” Rupley said. “We gotta clean that stuff up. We have to.”
Gensch, who will play for Grace College next year, was the winning pitcher, going 5-1/3 innings, allowing four hits and striking out four, with Weigold getting the six-out save, striking out two.
Brunn was hit with the loss, despite going six innings and allowing just three hits.
“We're right there,” Rupley said. “If we just do a couple little things a little differently, then we're still in good shape.”
The Wildcats now join Wabash in a second-place tie in the TRC at 3-1, trailing Class 2A No. 1 Northfield, which is 4-0 in the conference.
“We're keeping our conference hopes alive,” Hisner said. “We have a big one (today) against North Miami and that's a must win if we want to stay in the hunt.”
The game with North Miami is actually a continuation from an April 30 game that was shortened because of rain.
With the rain falling, Whitko fell behind 1-0 after one inning when the game was called.
Today’s game, which is back at Whitko, will begin where the rainout game ended.
The Squires are also in action today, taking on Northfield in North Manchester.
WHITKO 6, MANCHESTER 3
M 100 101 0 – 3 4 2
W 000 321 x – 6 3 4
Wes Gensch (W, 5-1/3IP, 3R, 2ER, 4H, 4K, 2BB, 1HB), Ryan Weigold (6, S, 1-2/3IP, 0R, 2K) and Riley Cokl; Logan Brunn (L, 6IP, 6R, 4ER, 3H, 4K, 4BB) and Jim Sainsbury
Records: Whitko 15-5 (3-1 TRC), Manchester 6-10 (2-2 TRC)[[In-content Ad]]
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