FORT WAYNE – In life it is important to know how to take advantage of a good opportunity. On Wednesday night the Whitko baseball team had a great opportunity to capitalize on, and did not disappoint.

The Wildcats took the field for their Three Rivers Conference game against Manchester like they would on any other night, but this time the stage was much bigger. Whitko and Manchester met inside of the Fort Wayne TinCap’s beautiful stadium, Parkview Field, for the two team’s annual conference game.

Both teams got the bats going early but it was the boys from South Whitley that that rose to the top in the Summit City to pick up their fourth straight victory, winning 13-9 over the Squires.

Ethan Nicodemus took the mound for the Wildcats to start the game and surprisingly found himself in a hole after the first inning Manchester used some timely hitting and mistakes by Whitko to score two runs in the top of the first.

The Wildcats could not get anything in the bottom of the first, but made up for it in the second inning. Avery Robbins got on base with a single, scoring two of his teammates and giving Whitko a 2-1 lead. Hunter Sroufe brought Robbins home and the crowd to its feet with a triple to put the Wildcats up by two. Sroufe scored shortly after on a passed ball. 4-1 Wildcats advantage after two.

Whitko saved its best hitting and base running for the fourth inning. The ‘Cats scored six runs on Mnachester to take a 10-2 lead. Robbins, Brady Weeks, Sroufe, Nicodemus, Garrett Smiley and Zach Snep all scored for Whitko in the frame.

 

Manchester decided to make a game of it in the sixth inning by scoring five runs to make the score 10-7. The Wildcats answered with three more runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Manchester threatened again in the top of the seventh scoring two more runs, making the score 13-9. The Squires then found themselves in a great situation with the tying run at the plate with loaded the bases and two outs. Riley Anderson came in to relieve Snep, who replaced Nicodemus, and recorded the save for his team.

To see the player’s names announced and faces put on the big screen at Parkview Field, click here.

The win put Whitko at 2-1 in the TRC and put a big smile on head coach Erik Hisner’s face.

“We hit the ball well tonight,” said Hisner. “We got some key hits and were able to work some good at bats. Even when we were up 10-2 I didn’t feel real comfortable knowing that Manchester had been hitting the ball well lately. So, I kind of felt like we might need 13 or 14 runs to get the win.”

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Last week Hisner’s team was in a bit of a rut after losing to TRC opponent Southwood then getting beat by double digits by potential sectional foe, Wawasee. Since then the ‘Cats have won two straight in the TRC and four straight overall, just one more thing to keep Hisner smiling.

“This feels good,” Hisner said. “After losing the opener to Southwood to win the next two over rivals in (Tippecanoe) Valley and Manchester really sets us up for next week.

“Obviously to win four straight, no matter who you play or how you do it, anytime you win four straight you’re grateful.”

Landen Goff (2-3, two runs, one RBI, two stolen bases), Robbins (2-3, two runs, two RBIs) and Sroufe (2-2, two runs, one RBI) all led the Wildcats offensively. Manchester was led by Thad Miller who went 3-4 and scored three runs for the Squires. Nicodemus picked up the win for Whitko, Noah Johnson took the loss for Manchester.

Whitko will hope to continue its winning ways on Friday night when Bellmont comes to town for a 5 p.m. first pitch.