By Stephen Smoot
With four games under their belt, Pendleton County baseball has started well. Though the team took two losses to large school programs they also won two on an early season road trip into the Old Dominion.
After dropping the opener to Keyser, who afterwards pounded Putnam County’s Poca and Nitro, the Wildcats ventured south to challenge Highland in Monterey, Virginia.
In the first two innings, the pitchers controlled the game. In the top of the first, Pendleton County mounted a threat when Caleb Armentrout singled to lead off the game. Travis Owens followed with a walk, followed by a single from Chase Owens. The ball hit to center was not deep enough to allow a run to score.
Highland’s pitcher then settled in and got the next three hitters to pop out, then strike out twice.
Cashton Kisamore started for the Wildcats and pitched the first inning, using his defense to retire the side in order. In the subsequent inning, he walked three, but then took control, and got his team out of the inning with no damage.
Wildcat hitters got productive in the third. Travis Owens hit a single to left. As Chase Owens worked the pitcher, Travis Owens stole second and put himself in scoring position. Chase Owens then hit the ball to the opposite field. Putting the ball in right field gave Travis Owens a clear path home to score his team’s initial run.
Chase Owens also stole second while Cole Harper was at the plate. Harper hit a ground ball to second, which gave the fleet of foot Chase Owens his chance to get home and double the lead.
Highland County answered in the bottom of the third. With one out, they belted two one-out singles. A sacrifice fly followed by a single helped the home team to knot the game at two, but from there the Wildcat pitching and defense would hold the line.
Pendleton County picked up a third run in the top of the fourth. Cooper Smith singled to left field, then Spencer Hartman picked up his teammate with a single to center. An error allowed Smith to score and put his team in the lead 3-2.
In the bottom of the fourth, Pendleton County changed pitchers again, calling on Caydan Boone. In the bottom of the fifth, Boone’s shifty pitches bewildered Highland, leading him to strike out the side. In the sixth, Boone walked the leadoff hitter, but got the next batter to hit into a six-four-three double play executed by Hartman, Armentrout, and Harper.
The top of the fourth saw the Wildcats deliver at the plate repeatedly. With one out, Jonas Turner drew a walk. Armentrout followed with a blast to left field that put him on second and scored Turner. Travis Owens followed that with his own extra base hit, scoring Armentrout and pushing the advantage to 7-2.
The top of the seventh saw the Wildcats build on their commanding lead when Kisamore picked up a leadoff home run by hitting the pitch over the left field wall. Brody Sites followed with a single. A Colby Simmons single put runners at first and third for Mason Harper, who singled to second and scored Sites for his team’s ninth run.
