Warriors Rally To Beat Whitko Wildcats
April 11, 2018 at 4:51 p.m.
Warriors Rally To Beat Whitko Wildcats
By Zach [email protected]
Wawasee (1-1) senior Blake Norris threw six strong innings and allowed only three earned runs, while striking out eight Whitko batters.
“He’s a work horse,” said Wawasee coach Brent Doty. “He’s one of our top guys. He went a little longer than what I would’ve liked him to, but he was still looking good in the sixth.”
The Wildcats (0-2) scored the first three runs of the game and scored in the bottom of the first inning with two outs. After the first two batters got out, Whitko strung together three straight hits to plate the first run of the game. Senior Austin Hollowell singled, senior Kyle Knutson doubled and moved Hollowell to third and sophomore Mason Lehman ripped a single that scored Hollowell.
In the next inning, Whitko increased the early lead to 3-0 and looked to run away with the win.
Wildcat junior pitcher Spencer Sroufe was cruising through the first two innings, allowing just two runners to reach base. In the top of the third, accuracy became an issue for Sroufe. He struck out the first batter he saw, hit the next one, walked the next one, struck out a batter and then hit another Wawasee batter to load the bases.
Wawasee senior Jacob Garcia came up to bat and hit a ball to deep center to clear the bases with a double and even the score at 3-3. The Wawasee defense calmed down and held Whitko scoreless for the next two innings.
The Warriors added four insurance runs in the final three innings, compared to the Wildcats only scoring one run in those frames.
“I joked with the guys after the game about how they can score in the first, second and third innings, that they don’t need to wait until the sixth to do so,” Doty said. “We’re a resilient bunch and have been since I’ve been here. We continue to battle and scored a couple runs there late that really helped out.”
Wawasee scored its key run of the game in the sixth inning on a balk by Hollowell. Senior Jake Crousore was on third and freshman Kameron Salazar went to steal second, and Hollowell didn’t step off the mound correctly when trying to throw Salazar out and allowed the run to score on the balk call.
Sophomore Levi Brown came in and closed out the game by striking out all three Wildcat batters he faced to capture the save.
For Whitko, senior River West led the charge and tallied three hits in the leadoff spot. He had one RBI and stole second base. One on occasion, he went to steal third and there was an errant throw and he was able to score to make the game 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth inning.
“He’s the team leader,” said Whitko coach Mark Fisher. “Him and Hollowell are the two returning seniors from our sectional championship team from last year and that’s who we’re going to rely on all season long.”
Wawasee has Salazar leading off and playing shortstop for the team, two key positions for any club.
“He’s played a lot of baseball and knows the game,” said Doty. “He’s just a quality baseball player and is going to play in the middle of the lineup for us.”
Wawasee travels to Columbia City on Thursday for a nonconference game at 5 p.m. Whitko hosts Lakewood Park Christian on Thursday.
WAWASEE 7, WHITKO 4
WW 003 011 2 – 7 8 2
WH 120 001 0 – 4 8 2
Wawasee – Blake Norris (W, 6IP, 6H, 4R, 3ER, 2BB, 8SO), Levi Brown (S, 1IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 3SO); Whitko – Spencer Sroufe (4.1IP, 4H, 4R, 4ER, 3BB, 5SO), Austin Hollowell (L, 2.2IP, 4H, 3R, 2ER, 0BB, 5SO)
2B – Jacob Garcia (WW), Jairus Boyer (WW), Kyle Knutson (WH)
Records: Wawasee 1-1, Whitko 0-2
Wawasee (1-1) senior Blake Norris threw six strong innings and allowed only three earned runs, while striking out eight Whitko batters.
“He’s a work horse,” said Wawasee coach Brent Doty. “He’s one of our top guys. He went a little longer than what I would’ve liked him to, but he was still looking good in the sixth.”
The Wildcats (0-2) scored the first three runs of the game and scored in the bottom of the first inning with two outs. After the first two batters got out, Whitko strung together three straight hits to plate the first run of the game. Senior Austin Hollowell singled, senior Kyle Knutson doubled and moved Hollowell to third and sophomore Mason Lehman ripped a single that scored Hollowell.
In the next inning, Whitko increased the early lead to 3-0 and looked to run away with the win.
Wildcat junior pitcher Spencer Sroufe was cruising through the first two innings, allowing just two runners to reach base. In the top of the third, accuracy became an issue for Sroufe. He struck out the first batter he saw, hit the next one, walked the next one, struck out a batter and then hit another Wawasee batter to load the bases.
Wawasee senior Jacob Garcia came up to bat and hit a ball to deep center to clear the bases with a double and even the score at 3-3. The Wawasee defense calmed down and held Whitko scoreless for the next two innings.
The Warriors added four insurance runs in the final three innings, compared to the Wildcats only scoring one run in those frames.
“I joked with the guys after the game about how they can score in the first, second and third innings, that they don’t need to wait until the sixth to do so,” Doty said. “We’re a resilient bunch and have been since I’ve been here. We continue to battle and scored a couple runs there late that really helped out.”
Wawasee scored its key run of the game in the sixth inning on a balk by Hollowell. Senior Jake Crousore was on third and freshman Kameron Salazar went to steal second, and Hollowell didn’t step off the mound correctly when trying to throw Salazar out and allowed the run to score on the balk call.
Sophomore Levi Brown came in and closed out the game by striking out all three Wildcat batters he faced to capture the save.
For Whitko, senior River West led the charge and tallied three hits in the leadoff spot. He had one RBI and stole second base. One on occasion, he went to steal third and there was an errant throw and he was able to score to make the game 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth inning.
“He’s the team leader,” said Whitko coach Mark Fisher. “Him and Hollowell are the two returning seniors from our sectional championship team from last year and that’s who we’re going to rely on all season long.”
Wawasee has Salazar leading off and playing shortstop for the team, two key positions for any club.
“He’s played a lot of baseball and knows the game,” said Doty. “He’s just a quality baseball player and is going to play in the middle of the lineup for us.”
Wawasee travels to Columbia City on Thursday for a nonconference game at 5 p.m. Whitko hosts Lakewood Park Christian on Thursday.
WAWASEE 7, WHITKO 4
WW 003 011 2 – 7 8 2
WH 120 001 0 – 4 8 2
Wawasee – Blake Norris (W, 6IP, 6H, 4R, 3ER, 2BB, 8SO), Levi Brown (S, 1IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 3SO); Whitko – Spencer Sroufe (4.1IP, 4H, 4R, 4ER, 3BB, 5SO), Austin Hollowell (L, 2.2IP, 4H, 3R, 2ER, 0BB, 5SO)
2B – Jacob Garcia (WW), Jairus Boyer (WW), Kyle Knutson (WH)
Records: Wawasee 1-1, Whitko 0-2
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