By Stephen Smoot
The Wildcats roared into postseason play with a solid win over the visiting Pirates from Paw Paw last week. The Morgan County based school played the third game in two weeks at Franklin, hoping for a better result than giving up 20 or more runs per game.
Paw Paw took the first score in the first inning. Their initial batter of the game reached on an error, but the second popped out to Caleb Armentrout. The Pirates then earned three consecutive walks and received their first run batted in of the game.
Wildcat pitcher Allden Rexrode then settled in, getting the next batter to look at strike one, then hit the next pitch softly down the first base line. Chase Owens fielded the ground ball, fired a throw home to James Vincell to get the lead baserunner out. Vincell then got the ball back to Owens before the baserunner could reach first base.
That slammed the door on Paw Paw’s hopes for a big inning.
In the bottom of the frame, Rexrode took a leadoff walk on four pitches, then went to second base on an Owens single. With two runners on, a passed ball brought Rexrode home from second, with Owens advancing to scoring position at second base. Vincell then drew a walk on five pitches. Tucker Smith filled in for Vincell as a courtesy runner.
Two batters later, with one out, Owens scored from third base during Armentrout’s at bat, but the bases loaded up again when the batter earned a walk. This set the score at 2-1 in favor of Pendleton County.
Later in the inning, with two outs recorded, Dillon Smith took a ball, then legged out an infield single tapped back toward the pitcher. Tucker Smith made it home on the play. Armentrout advanced to third, then scored on Josiah Kimble’s subsequent at bat. Kimble earned a base on balls as his team pushed its lead to 4-1.
Cam Beachler took the mound for the Wildcats in the top of the second inning. He struck out the leadoff batter in four pitches, then earned a punchout for the second out. Beachler retired the Pirates in order when the final batter grounded to short.
Wildcat patience paid off in the bottom of the second, as Owens, Vincell, Beachler, and Armentrout all walked to open the inning, setting the score at 5-1. It also left the bases open for Cashton Kisamore to power a line drive to right field, bringing two runs home and leaving him walking into second.
Paw Paw’s pitcher recovered and picked up two consecutive outs, but a Dusty Smith infield single to short brought in Armentrout and extended the lead to 8-1.
Kisamore relieved Beachler for the top of the third. He picked up the first two outs, then allowed a baserunner on via a walk. Kisamore then gained a strikeout to complete the inning.
In the bottom of the third, with one out, a Beachler line drive tipped the top of the second baseman’s glove, then dropped behind him in shallow center for a single. Two batters later, with two outs recorded, Kisamore sent a two ball and two strike pitch over the wall in deep left field for a 10-1 score.
But Paw Paw recovered somewhat in the top of the fourth. They got the first two runners on base. Then, with one out, the Pirate batter earned a walk to load the bases. On the next batter, a balk by the pitcher added to a single helped the Pirates to bring in two runs. They then picked up two more runs on an error to close the gap to 10-5.
In the Wildcat half of the fourth, Kimble opened with a single to third base. Dusty Smith came up next. Kimble stole second, then advanced to third on a sacrifice to short. An Owens two out line drive stand up double brought in Kimble and set the score at 11-5.
In the fifth inning, Cayden Boone took the mound. He gave up a single to the leadoff man, but then retired the next three batters in order. When Pendleton County took their turn in the inning, Pirate pitching retired the initial two batters. Kisamore then singled to left.
With two outs and Kisamore on, Dillon Smith went down quickly to a no ball and two strike count. He watched ball one then connected on the next pitch, sending it deep to the left centerfield wall for a stand up double and the 12th run of the day for his team.
Boone returned for the sixth inning, striking the first batter out, then allowing two on via a walk and a single. He then got the next batter to strike out on three pitches and allowed the defense to record the third out on a fly ball to center.
Noah Lockard led off the Pendleton County half of the sixth, hitting a line drive single to left. In the next at bat, Lockard was picked off at first, but Rexrode got on first due to an error. An Owens single drove him home for the last score in the game, a 13-5 win for the Wildcats.
Head Coach Sam Yokum then called on Will Smith to close out the game for the Wildcats. After getting the leadoff hitter to ground out, he allowed a walk. The next batter hit into a fielder’s choice, preventing a baserunner from advancing to scoring position. Will Smith then got the final out of the day on a strikeout.
The next game was played at Moorefield.
