AKRON – Second-year Tippecanoe Valley High School baseball coach Justin Branock said his pregrame talk Monday was about getting off to a great start. Branock’s players must have listened and taken his message to heart, as the Vikings plated eight runs in the first inning en route to a 14-5 win over Three Rivers Conference rival Whitko. Valley, rebounding from a pair of losses to Taylor in a doubleheader Saturday, was at full strength after getting two players back who had missed games while on the senior trip. The Vikings improved to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in the TRC, while the Wildcats fell to 6-4 and 0-2. “I think a little of it was we had the excitement of a couple seniors coming back from the senior trip, we lost two (games) on Saturday ... and take nothing away from Taylor, but we feel like if we had all of our guys it could have been a different story,” said Branock. “And anytime (Eric) Hammer or (Luke) Helton, the top of our pitching staff, is on the mound our guys are confident we’re gonna get a win. “The only thing we talked about was getting off on the right foot, and our guys did. I can tell them to get off on the right foot, I can tell them to be aggressive, I can tell them to score runs early, but ultimately they’re the ones that do it. They make me look good as a coach when they produce.” With Whitko junior Alex Robbins on the mound, Valley sent 12 batters to the plate in the first inning. The Vikings’ eight runs in the first inning were all earned and came off seven hits, including a pair of doubles by leadoff hitter Alec Craig. Craig, a junior finished the game 5 for 5 at the plate with three doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored. Senior Gavin Bussard tallied three hits in the win, while seniors Eric Hammer, Luke Helton, Jesse Floor and Jay Myers had two hits each. Robbins was charged with the loss after working just 2/3 of an inning. He walked two and struck out one. As a staff, Whitko’s pitchers, which Monday included relievers Riley Anderson and River West, gave up 18 hits. “We can sit here and play shoulda, woulda, coulda all day, but if we get a couple breaks it’s not eight (runs in the first inning),” said Whitko coach Erik Hisner. “But give them credit, they put the ball in play and had a couple two-out hits that, looking back on it, that really put things away. “If we get out of there giving up just three, even five, the way we came back in the middle innings, that’s a different ballgame from a strategy standpoint and momentum might have swung a little more our way. But like I said, give them a lot of credit, they came out ready to play. “I thought our kids came to play, Valley just matched it and got some big hits ... and Hammer came out and threw well early for them. It’s tough to come back when you get down 8-0.” Hammer, Valley’s hard-throwing southpaw and Northern Illinois University recruit, picked up the win on the mound after pitching four innings. He gave up two hits, five runs, seven walks and struck out 10 Whitko batters. Of the two hits Hammer gave up, one of them was a three-run homer by senior Garrett Smiley in the third inning that cut Valley’s lead to 8-3. The Vikings took a 9-3 lead in the bottom of the frame, and the Wildcats responded with two more runs in the top of the fourth. Valley scored four runs in the fifth inning and one in the sixth to put the game away. “Whitko’s a good team, they’re not gonna go away,” said Branock. “We talked about that in the dugout, and we just stayed the course and kept with our approach. “I had just made a mound visit to Eric and told him today we’re limited on relief guys. We had a long week last week and played two games on Saturday, this week we play everyday but Thursday, and we have two on Saturday. “So I told him, we’re starting to climb up there, we gotta throw over the white, keep the pitch count down ... and the very next pitch he throws over the white. Give Whitko credit, the kid squared it up and hit it out.” Valley travels to Culver Military Academy today, while Whitko plays at conference foe Southwood Wednesday.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 14, WHITKO 5 Whi 003 200 0 – 5 TV 801 041 X – 14 Whitko – Alex Robbins (L, 2/3IP, 8R, 7H, 2BB, 1K), Riley Anderson (3-1/3IP, 3R, 5H, 3BB, 5K), River West (2IP, 3R, 4H, 0BB, 2K); Valley – Eric Hammer (W, 4IP, 5R, 2H, 5BB, 10K), Alec Craig (3IP, 0R, 1H, 2BB, 3K) 2B – Alec Craig (TV) 3 HR – Garrett Smiley (W) Records: Whitko 6-4 (0-2 TRC), Valley 6-2 (2-0 TRC)
