SOUTH WHITLEY – Tippecanoe Valley’s varsity baseball team got plenty of charge from its battery Wednesday evening. In a 6-0 win over the host Whitko Wildcats, the Vikings got a three-run double from junior catcher Jacob Ritchey and a pair of doubles and a gem of a pitching performance from senior southpaw James Hackworth. The duo, along with a double from junior Clayton Adamson and a trio of singles from senior Kameron Larimer, provided enough juice to help the Vikings improve to 7-5 overall and 1-0 in the TRC. The Wildcats fell to 9-5 overall and 0-1 in conference play. “That was huge,” first-year Valley coach Ryan Moore said of Ritchey’s third-inning double, which scored teammates Isaac Shewman, Jarred Littlejohn and Dan Miller. “That was big,” he continued. “It got the team fired up, and we went from there. It was great to have James back on the mound, he pitched well, and we talked to him about making an adjustment (at the plate). He listened, and he hit two doubles.” Valley pounded out 10 hits in all, while the Wildcats struck out 14 times and were held to just two hits. The Indiana State University-bound Hackworth dominated Whitko during the six innings he was on the mound. Hackworth struck out 12 batters, and gave up just two hits and two walks. “He was good,” Whitko coach Erik Hisner said of Hackworth. “He threw strikes. They got hits and got guys on base, and we didn’t.” While Valley scored six runs and left another seven runners on base, the Wildcats only had five runners reach base. Senior Colin Nicodemus’ double and senior Wes Gensch’s single accounted for Whitko’s only two hits. “I told the kids, we didn’t beat ourselves, we got beat,” said Hisner. “Hackworth pitched well, and we just didn’t get the big hit like they did.” In relief of Hackworth, Adamson pitched the seventh inning. He struck out two and walked one, while not giving up a hit to the four batters he faced. Adding to their 3-0 lead, the Vikings scored one run in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Junior Alex Stoddard was charged with the loss on the mound. The Whitko junior worked the first five innings, giving up eight hits and four runs, while striking out four and walking three. Junior Ryan Weigold pitched the final two innings. He gave up two hits and two runs and struck out one Valley batter. Whitko is in action again Saturday when it hosts Southern Wells for a doubleheader starting at 10 a.m. Valley also plays at 10 a.m. Saturday, hosting LaVille in a four-team tournament that also includes Peru and Rochester.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 6, WHITKO 0 TV 003 011 1 – 6 10 1 W 000 000 0 – 0 2 3 James Hackworth (W, 6IP, 0R, 12K, 2H, 2BB), Clayton Adamson (6th, 0R, 0H, 1BB, 2K) and Jacob Ritchey; Alex Stoddard (L, 5IP, 4R, 8H, 3BB, 4K), Ryan Weigold (5th, 2R, 2H, 0BB, 1K) and Riley Cokl 2B – Hackworth (TV) 2, Ritchey (TV), Adamson (TV), Colin Nicodemus (W) Records: T. Valley 7-5 (1-0 TRC), Whitko 9-5 (0-1 TRC)
