With sole possession of second place in the Three Rivers Conference up for grabs, as well as a chance to move up into a first-place tie with Peru, the Manchester and Whitko baseball teams met in North Manchester Monday evening, playing a game that was dominated by the Squires from start to finish, as the home side won 14-0.
After issuing a leadoff walk to Whitko’s Riley Harman, Manchester starter Evan Martynowicz was able to settle in from there, striking out the next two hitters and usi

ng a pop out in foul territory to end the inning and send the Squires to the plate for the first time.
That first trip up to bat would be a fruitful one for the home side, as the Squires were able to plate the first run of the game. After singles by Ethan Hendrix and Gavin Martin, Reiss Gaerte would bring Hendrix home on a single down the third base line. The inning had a chance to result in more runs, but an unorthodox 6-4-3-5 double play turned by the Wildcats ended the first inning.
Whitko hurler Isaiah Cripe had the first hit for the visitors in the top of the second, going opposite field with two outs to get on board. Martynowicz would not let him get any further though, fielding a grounder for the third out of the frame.
The bottom of the second was a big inning for Manchester. Payton Jones and Evan Estep each reached via singles with one out. Dallas Martin would bring Jones home on a single before Estep was allowed to walk home on a balk by Cripe. Next up was Hendrix, who drove a ball over the left field fence for a two-run homer and his second hit in as many innings. The home side would add one more run in the rally, as Hunter Sturtsman was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score Martin. Heading into the third innings, the Squires were now up 6-0.

    Whitko junior right fielder Ethan Morris goes to his knees to make a catch during the second inning...NieterThe Wildcats put two runners on in the top of the third, as Harman drew his second walk and Easton Grable hit a single, but a nice throw by Garrett Sites at catcher gunned down Harman trying to steal third to end the threat.
The lead continued to grow at a quick rate for Manchester in the bottom of the third. A single by Martin and walks to Hendrix and Sites loaded the bases for Martin, and he would take advantage of his opportunity. He’d rip a double to the left field wall which would score all three runners on base. A batter later, Gaerte would drive Martin home on a single that bounced off of third base and into the outfield. Not long after, Jones would score Gaerte on another bases loaded hit, and a walk to Estep would bring Martynowicz home with nowhere else to put him. After the second straight inning in which at least 10 Manchester players came up to hit, the Squires were up 13-0.
Martynowicz kept chugging along in the top of the fourth, retiring all three batters he faced and picking up his fifth punch out of the night. The Squires made it four straight innings with a run in the bottom of fourth as Sturtsman drove Martin home on an opposite field single that landed just fair of the right-field line.
Needing just three outs to send the crowd home happy, Martynowicz wasted no time getting them, striking out all three Wildcats that came up to the plate, doing it on just 10 pitches.
Manchester (16-4-1, 5-1) plays its next game Wednesday at home against Lewis Cass, while Whitko (9-7-2 4-2 TRC) is in action Tuesday at home against Lakewood Park Christian.