By Stephen Smoot
Last week, after the Moorefield victory, the Wildcats took on a tough slate of opponents, first in Randolph County, then in the McDonalds Invitational, played in Harrison, Marion, and Monongalia counties.
First, the team struggled on the road against a Tygart Valley squad that featured a pitcher who threw in the 80s. Then extreme weather forced the cancellation of planned tournament games on Friday.
Pendleton County players enjoyed a treat that night as they watched West Virginia University rally to score three in the final inning to upend Big 12 Conference rival, the University of Central Florida 7-6.
In their first game on Saturday, the Wildcats faced a powerful Fairmont Senior squad. They brought an eight and one record into the contest with big wins over conference foes. The Polar Bears took a 12-1 victory from the Wildcats.
Head coach Sam Yokum acknowledged the strength of Fairmont Senior, but said, “We didn’t play real well.” Polar Bear pitching adjustments helped to tame the Wildcats. Yokum explained that “we hit pretty well in the first two innings. Then he started throwing some off speed stuff. We weren’t very patient at the plate.”
Their speed on the base paths also proved challenging.
Assistant coach Joe Vincell said that the Wildcats played a “pretty well-contested game” for the first four innings, only falling behind three to one. Chase Owens had been keeping the Polar Bears within reach, but had to be subbed out. Fairmont Senior pitching, however, was dominant.
Pendleton County closed out on a high note on the day, defeating double A Berkeley Springs 9-3. The Wildcats scored two in the third, and three in the fifth before the Indians responded with a two run fifth.
Yokum shared that “we started with a lot of fly ball outs.” He added that “we helped them early,” but “then had a little more patience” at the plate. Vincell added that “we started off really slow offensively,” due to the opposing pitcher’s reliance on breaking pitches.
The key for the Wildcats came in the top of the fifth, once the hitters became accustomed to a style of pitching they do not often see. The top of the order came up. Allden Rexrode hit a single, then Owens a double, followed by singles from James Vincell and Cashton Kisamore
James Vincell started the game, but showed arm fatigue so the team turned to Rexrode. “Allden needed to be able to come in and throw strikes. And he did,” Yokum said. Vincell pitched three shutout innings while Rexrode performed well the rest of the way.
The team learned from adversity. Assistant coach Vincell explained that the pitchers faced over the week “were not throwing 70 mile per hour batting practice pitches.” The Wildcats learned how to take a better approach to higher velocity, breaking, and also off-speed pitches.
“We took some strides. I saw the kids adjust,” Joe Vincell shared.