Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
AKRON -ÊWednesday afternoon there was a gas leak at Tippecanoe Valley that forced all students and teachers to spend the last two hours of school outside in the parking lot. Fortunately the only damage done was to convenience. Perhaps none more than Valley's boys baseball team who was preparing to square off with TRC rival Whitko. Valley and it's starting pitcher, freshman Josh Baize, struggled in the first inning before KO'ing the Wildcats 11-1 in five innings.
The game, which barely broke the hour and a half mark, began with Whitko getting on the scoreboard first.
Shortstop Bryan Boggs reached on a walk then advanced to third on two wild pitches by Baize.
Baize then walked his pitching counterpart Erich Schlight on four straight pitches. Boggs then scored on a double steal that advanced Sclight to third.
Whitko looked to extend its early 1-0 lead when clean-up hitter and catcher Nate Hart laced a double that brought Schlight around to third base with just one out. Baize got help from his catcher Brandon Cody, who on a pitchout rifled a throw down to third base to pick off Schlight and eliminate the chance for a sacrifice by second baseman Tristan Brubaker. Brubaker walked and the next batter, Jared Eberly, reached on an error by Valley third baseman Stuart Jackson to load the bases.
The rally ended when Whitko rightfielder Dave Starkey grounded weakly back to Baize for the third out.
Valley went out quietly in the first inning, striking out twice to a pitcher, Schlight, who recorded three strikeouts in his previous seven innings of work.
The second inning for the Vikings however was as loud as the first was quiet.
Designated hitter David Beyers started things off with a double.
Shortstop Brandon Newcomer brought Beyers home with a single to tie things up at 1-1.
Jason Sausman then walked and first baseman Kyle Brown singled to load the bases for Keith Kindig.
Kindig reached on a single that brought Newcomer home.
After Jackson, the leadoff hitter, struck out, Britton Burkhart reached on an error by Brandon Reiff that scored Sausman and made the score 3-1.
Second baseman Derek Adamson then cleared the bases with a stand up triple extending Valley's lead to 6-1. That triple also marked the end of Schlight's day as he was relieved by leftfielder Travis Christman.
Christman struggled to get the final two outs. He first gave up a run-scoring single to Cody and then a double to Beyers, his second of the inning.
Valley added a run in the third when Kindig scored on a wild pitch after reaching on a fielder's choice.
The Vikings then invoked the 10-run rule in the bottom of the fourth when Kindig connected on a two-out single that plated Newcomer and Sausman.
While the Viking offense was clicking on all cylinders, the defense was the pleasant surprise for head coach Scott Backus.
"I was very concerned tonight how we'd be with the gas leak so I'll definitely take (the effort)," said Backus.
Valley, a team whose fielding percentage was .901 going into Wednesday's game, made one error in the first inning, then looked liked a team full of gold-glovers the rest of the way. Especially shortstop Brandon Newcomer, who assisted in five putouts and made an over-the-shoulder catch in the fourth inning that had Backus still shaking his head.
Whitko's Noah Shepherd popped up a ball that drifted towards short left center field. As the outfield charged in, Newcomer called the defense off and made an over the head catch, adding a degree of difficulty to the oft-used over the shoulder catch.
"I'm still trying to figure out how he caught that ball," said Backus who feels if his team can get all cylinders going it'll provide trouble for opponents. "When they play well they're tought to beat."
While the defense was great, so was the arm of freshman hurler Baize. While he struggled in the first inning he settled down and effectively used his fastball and curve to breeze through the Whitko lineup. Baize, now 3-0, finished the game with one earned run on four hits with five strikeouts and three walks. The run and all three walks came in the first inning.
With the win Valley moves its record to 15-7 and 2-2 in the Three Rivers Conference while Whitko falls to 3-14 on the season.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 11, WHITKO 1
Whitko 100 00 - 1
Valley 081 2X - 11
Valley AB R H RBI
Jackson 3 0 0 0
Huffman 1 0 0 0
Burkhart 3 1 1 0
Howard 0 0 0 0
Adamson 3 1 1 3
Cody 3 1 1 1
Beyers 3 1 2 1
Newcomer 2 2 1 1
Sausman 2 2 0 0
Brown 2 1 1 0
Studebaker 1 0 0 0
Kindig 3 2 2 3
Totals 25 11 9 9
Whitko AB R H RBI
Reiff 2 0 0 0
Babcock 2 1 1 0
Schlight 2 0 0 0
Hart 2 0 1 0
Brubaker 1 0 0 0
Eberly 2 0 1 0
Starkey 2 0 0 0
Shepherd 2 0 0 0
Christman 2 0 1 0
Totals 18 1 4 0
IP H R ER BB SO
Valley
Blaize, W 5 4 1 1 3 5
Whitko
Schlight, L 1.1 7 7 6 1 3
Christman 2.2 3 4 3 3 2
LOB-Valley 5, Whitko 5
