Whitko Baseball: Hot Bats Carry ‘Cats In Cold Weather
SOUTH WHITLEY — Ernie Banks would’ve been disappointed.
The Whitko baseball team opened its season Saturday morning with a scheduled double header against Marion. The freak April snow storm changed plans a bit so, “Let’s play two” turned into, “Let’s dominate one” for the Wildcats. Whitko rolled to a 15-0 win over the Giants and lead the second game before it was called.
After a scoreless first inning, the Wildcats opened things up in a big way in the second. Whitko waited until it had two outs before hanging seven runs on Marion. Landen Goff was the first to come through as he used a double to score Zach Hewitt and Alex Robbins. Tanner Gaff followed suit with a double of his own, scoring Goff and River West. A wild pitch allowed Ryan Day to cross home while Drew Bradford and Hunter Sroufe capped the scoring burst off a single from Riley Anderson.
While seven-run innings are certainly a recipe for success, so are dominate pitching performances and the Wildcats had that going for them as well. Gaff started the game and went three innings giving up no runs, one hit, recorded seven strikeouts and earned the win. To sum it up, the ace pitched like an ace.
Bradford relieved Gaff in the fourth and put on a solid performance of his own over the game’s final two innings. The junior also gave up one hit and fanned three batters.
“Drew Bradford threw the ball real well after Gaff,” stated Whitko head coach Erik Hisner. “Of course, Gaff came out and was really sharp. If it wasn’t for us getting those runs in the third we would’ve sent him back out. He only threw around 35 pitches through three innings.”
Whitko tallied another eight runs in the bottom of the third. Robby Owsley, West and Hewitt all scored on separate throwing errors by the Giants. Goff picked up another RBI, scoring Robbins. Goff and Gaff scored on a double from Bradford. Anderson knocked Bradford home and Anderson was brought home on a single from Ryan Day. Yes, it was a busy pair of innings for the home team. The effort was, perhaps, even more impressive given that the Wildcats were missing three projected starters that were still gone on spring break.
Whitko had seven hits as a team, led by Goff and Anderson who each had two hits and three RBIs. Marion’s two hits were earned by Dylan Meyer and Kurtis Acala. Tra Cox took the loss for the visiting nine.
The Giants put a run on the board to start the second game then Whitko responded with three runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning, but it was all for nothing. Field and weather conditions forced the official’s hand and the game was called.
“For us to get seven runs with two outs was big,” Hisner offered. “It was a scoreless tie there in the second, both teams have momentum with it being the season opener, it was good to see us put the hammer down and put ourselves in a position to run away with it.
“I was impressed with our overall mentality. The weather was rough. Low 30s, winter mix but our guys did a good job of not letting it bother them.”
Whitko (1-0) will travel to play Triton Monday evening.