SOUTH WHITLEY – The Whitko baseball team continued its early-season success Friday night.
The host Wildcats scored four runs in their final at-bat to outscore Churubusco 10-6.
The game was originally scheduled to be played at Churubusco, but was moved to Whitko due to wet field conditions at Churubusco.
The Wildcats scored three runs in the fifth inning to lead 6-3 before the Eagles scored three runs in the home half of the sixth inning to tie the contest. Whitko then plated four runs in the top of the seventh frame to notch the win.
Alex Stoddard went 4-4 at the plate with a triple, an RBI and three runs scored to pace the Whitko offense.
Ryan Weigold, who notched the pitching win in relief, had two hits with a double for the winners. Zach Snep also had two hits and Ethan Nicodemus a double for Whitko.
The Wildcats had 10 hits in the win. Churubusco had seven errors in the contest.
“This was a good win for our ball club,” said Whitko coach Erik Hisner. “Over the last five years, we’ve had some very close games with Churubusco. Even with a 6-3 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth, I knew it would be tough to close them out. You have to give their kids a lot of credit. That was a great comeback. We were lucky to get out of that sixth inning with the score tied.”
“We had a lot of guys do a lot of little things tonight to help us earn this victory. Wyatt Wolf gave us a gutsy performance on the mound by pitching into the fifth inning on a night when he didn’t have his best stuff. He gave us a chance to win, and I’m really proud of the way he competed. Avery Robbins did a great job in relief to get us out of a jam in the bottom of the fifth inning. Alex Stoddard was huge out of the leadoff spot by going 4-4 and reaching base all five times. Josh Kessie had two huge sacrifice bunts. Hunter Sroufe made some big plays in right field. Tanner Gaff had a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly. And Ryan Weigold and Zach Snep each had two hits and put together some great at-bats tonight.”
Whitko improves to 5-1 on the season, while the Eagles drop to 2-3.
Whitko hosts Garrett in a doubleheader Saturday (April 13) at 11 a.m.
