By Stephen Smoot
“These are the times that try men’s souls.”
These words come from Thomas Paine’s “The American Crisis” during the American Revolution. Only a year before, Paine had trumpeted early victories in his works. At the time of the publication of this piece, American arms had faced the worst that Britain could muster. Paine did not know for sure that the tide would soon turn, but he did know the hearts of those fighting, which gave him faith in the future.
Like many spring sports programs in the mountains, forsaken by decision-makers in warmer climes, Pendleton County had to postpone much of its early season and cram a full slate of games into a few weeks’ time. Teams who have to adjust to this see rigorous wear and tear on key players, especially pitchers and catchers who can both wear out arms when forced to play more often than normal.
For single A teams, add in the fact that most players have competed continuously in one sport or another since August.
The Wildcats came into the week with tired arms and weary bodies. At this point in the schedule, Pendleton County has already consumed the appetizers and is moving on to the meat and potatoes – the heart of an intentionally rigorous set of game tests.
Between April 6 and 22, the team played 13 games in 16 days.
After a tough loss to Tygarts Valley on the 17th, the Wildcats hosted East Hardy, one of the strongest teams in single A. On this night, Pendleton County honored champions from the past, including players from Circleville and Franklin high schools.
The Cougars picked up three runs in the top of the first. Caleb Armentrout helped to shorten the inning with a bang bang play from second, fielding a difficult ball, then quickly and accurately firing it to first for the out.
James Vincell answered in the bottom of the inning. Although the pitcher quickly got ahead in the count, Vincell fired a one ball and two strike pitch over the fence to put his team on the scoreboard. He also took a first pitch fastball to the wall for a stand up double in the bottom of the third.
In the top of the second, the Wildcats saw Cam Beachler appearing on the mound. He has had limited action this season due to an injury. Beachler appeared with no outs and runners at the corners, but shut down the Cougars effectively.
An inexperienced Cayden Boone came in relief for the Wildcats as a pitcher. Boone quickly showed himself adept at precisely placing pitches while changing speeds. Boone doesn’t beat a batter with velocity, but with the other vital fundamentals of the position. After he laid down the Cougars in order in the top of the fourth, his teammates leapt from the dugout to greet him.
East Hardy took the game 16-5.
The very next day, Pendleton County traveled almost three hours for a double header at surging South Harrison.
In this game, Allden Rexrode gave head coach Sam Yokum exactly what the team needed, four innings without allowing an earned run. The Hawks, unfortunately, capitalized on miscues to take a 2-0 lead early, but the Wildcats fought valiantly.
Those four innings passed quickly as both pitchers held the bats at bay. Pendleton County succeeded in putting runners in scoring position, such as in the top of the fourth when Chase Owens drove a pitch to the wall for a double. Excellent situational pitching by South Harrison, however, prevented a lot of potential scores.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Hawks led off with a single to left field. This was followed by a ground ball play where Spencer Hartman’s hustle and good decision-making allowed the Wildcats to eliminate the lead runner. This was key in that the Hawks next hitter got a base hit.
With one out and runners on first and second, the Hawks hit a deep fly ball to left. Dusty Smith caught it for the out, then surged forward to prevent the runner on second from tagging and advancing.
In the top of the sixth, down 6-0, Pendleton County struck. Owens earned a one out walk, followed by Cashton Kisamore driving a missile to the left field wall to collect the first run batted in of the game. Dillon Smith’ s stand up double on the next at bat drove in the second Wildcat run.
With two outs and a runner on second, Josiah Kimble made a gutsy call and surprised the Hawks with a perfect slow rolling bunt down the third base line, allowing all to reach safely. This brought up Rexrode who drove in the third run, not with a mighty shot, but with a hit directly in front of the plate that died in no man’s land.
The late game heroics kept the game alive, allowing a full seven inning performance, but the Wildcats lost 8-4. An exhausted Pendleton County squad subsequently dropped the second game 15-5.
This week, the Wildcats should return to their winning ways. The schedule is still demanding in terms of the number of games expected, but the competition level does ease somewhat.
