MENTONE - Three words were all Tippecanoe Valley baseball coach Pat O'Connell needed.

Three words explained why he felt his team lost 9-1 to Whitko on Wednesday.

"We beat ourselves," he said.

He looked at his team's hitting. After Whitko took a 3-1 lead in the third inning, Valley quickly threatened in the fourth. R.J. Hutchison and Joey Francis started the inning with singles.

They were left standing on the bases, and the score was left at 3-1. Whitko pitcher Noah Tucker, making his second start of the season, retired the next three hitters.

"The batting is what's surprised me," O'Connell said. "That's what hurt us. We were batting .340, then it came down a little when we started conference play. It's really come down this week."

He looked at his team's defense. His team committed six errors. The big one came in the fourth inning.

With one out and a runner on second, Whitko's Billy Reffitt hit a routine grounder to third baseman Jason Miller. Miller gloved it, looked the runner back to second. It looked like an easy second out.

But Miller's wild throw sailed past first baseman Bo Wohead. Instead of a runner on second with two outs, Whitko scored another run, and Reffitt stood on second with one out.

Dustin Patrick and A.J. Frantz, Whitko's third and fifth hitters, then delivered RBI doubles. Four runs scored after the error to boost Whitko's lead to 7-1.

"Of the nine runs, two were earned," O'Connell said. "Seven unearned runs - we beat ourselves."

True, but Whitko was the team that took advantage with nine runs. Three players fueled the Wildcats - Tucker, Cory Sleighter and Corey Green.

Tucker, who relied on three pitches - slow, slower and slowest - mesmerized the Viking hitters. He pitched a complete game, striking out seven. More importantly, he walked none.

He worked fast, changed speeds and kept the ball down.

"Noah Tucker, we got him some runs, and he took it from there," Whitko coach Randy Hart said. "He did a great job of keeping them off balance. Only two or three innings did they threaten."

Tucker once again proved the difference between a pitcher and a thrower. A guy may throw 85 or 90 mph, but if he can't get it across the plate, it doesn't matter. Tucker was a pitcher.

"I can't go in there and hit for them," O'Connell said. "He threw a good game. I didn't see anything spectacular that should have stopped us from hitting him. We did have some hits, but we couldn't bring them in."

Sleighter backed Tucker with exceptional defense at shortstop, recording several putouts. Sleighter, normally a catcher, played shortstop in place of injured Scott Craft. Craft, a .500 hitter in the conference, broke his ankle Friday.

Sleighter showed good range to his left. On one play he fielded a ball behind second base and threw the runner out at first.

Green, a center fielder, helped out with his bat, going 3 for 4 with two RBIs and a stolen base.

"Corey Green, the poor kid's batting average is like .170," Hart said. "He's struggled all year long. He had runners on second and third with two outs and picked up a big hit to score two runs.

"One thing we haven't done all year is pick up runners in scoring position. Tonight we waited and looked for a good pitch to drive. They made a few errors, and we capitalized."

Valley dropped to 10-10-1 overall and 2-3 in the Three Rivers Conference. Francis went 3 for 3 with two stolen bases for Valley. Hutchison started and took the loss.

Whitko, also playing without starting left fielder Barry Waybright, improved to 5-10 overall and 2-2 in the TRC. Waybright, a .400 hitter in the conference, was visiting a college.

"We played tonight like we should have all year long," Hart said. "I still think we're one of the best 5-10 teams in the area."

O'Connell, who bragged up Whitko before the season, agreed.

"They are a 5-10 team because they play a tougher caliber of team than we play," he said. "They play the Fort Wayne teams - Fort Wayne has very tough teams.

"They made nice defensive plays. The name of the game is making plays. Whitko did that." [[In-content Ad]]