By Kenton Hornbeck
After an adverse second week where the Wildcat baseball program found themselves in an early season hole, they rebounded spectacularly by going 4-1 throughout the third week.
Pendleton County strung together a four-game win streak, the program’s first since the 2015 season when Joe Dean was Head Coach. That particular 2015 win streak was kicked off by the program’s last win over Harrison County.
“With four straight wins, we are finally playing like a team and showing people how good we really are,” said senior Tanner Keeton.
The Wildcats are now back to .500 on the season with an overall record of 6-6. They went 3-0 in the Doc Morris Invitational over the weekend.
“It was great to see the guys rebound after a tough week,” said Head Coach Colin Duffie. “We were able to shake off the rust and put together some quality wins. The guys have worked really hard to put themselves in this position. There’s a lot of season left and we’re going to continue to get better.”
The week started off with an 8-4 loss against 10th Region rival Bracken County in Brooksville. Polar Bear freshman Josh Hamilton (yes, apparently all Josh Hamiltons can hit) had a career day knocking in five RBIs on a solo home run and a grand slam. He also earned the win on the mound striking out six in five innings.
The Wildcats fell behind early and were unable to claw their way back. Sophomore Connor Neltner took the loss on the mound. He struck out six while surrendering seven runs. The difference in the game was Hamilton’s grand slam.
38th District opponent Robertson County were the Wildcats revenge victim. Looking to put themselves back in the winners column, the Wildcats smacked the Black Devils 14-0 in a six- inning ballgame.
The Black Devils saved their ace, senior Eli Dotson, specifically for this game. The Wildcats were prepared for this. They executed their at bats well by running up Dotson’s pitch count in the earlier innings. He was replaced in the fifth inning after allowing four runs on six hits. His total pitch count was 106 at the time of his replacement.
For this game, it was Ethan Verst’s turn to have a career day. The sophomore knocked in four runs on four hits, two of which were a double and a triple. Connor Neltner also added two hits, one of which was a triple, while scoring three times.
On the mound, Verst was arguably even better, earning himself a compete game shutout.
Verst struck out 11 batters while taking a perfect game bid into the fifth inning before the baseball gods decided to intervene. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Verst finally surrendered an anti-climactic, meekly hit single. His complete game shutout was efficient; he threw only 70 total pitches.
“I was hoping I could pull out the complete perfect game, but things happen. Brandon Dice from Robertson did a good job of getting the bat on the ball and getting them their first hit. It was a good spot and just a good piece of hitting,” said Verst in regards to his near perfect game. “I was aware and some of the players reminded me right before the at-bat he got a hit, so I kind of think they might have jinxed it, but it feels good to just get the win. I’m happy for our team, and am glad we won no matter what I did in that game. It was all of us together as a team.”
Friday kicked off the Doc Morris Invitational where the Wildcats defeated 8th Region opponent Owen County 11-8 for their most significant victory of the season thus far.
The Wildcats were down 8-5 in the top of the seventh inning. In the most pivotal half inning of the Wildcats’ season, they mounted a ferocious rally in which they scored six runs to put themselves ahead. Freshman Michael Fultz shut the door on the Rebels while earning the win on the mound.
Senior Joey Ball started the game for the Wildcats tossing five innings and striking out three batters. While seven runs were scored when Ball was on the mound, only two were earned runs.
At the plate, the Wildcats were led by senior Josh Brownfield who had two hits and two RBIs, Verst who had two hits and two RBIs, and Neltner who had three hits and scored three runs. Freshman Aaron Kirsch knocked in two important RBIs. It was a complete team effort on offense.
“A win like that shows how much fight we have and how good we can be,” said Verst. “I feel like that was the win we needed and is the going to be the turning point in the season.”
On Saturday the Wildcats defeated a sneaky good Ludlow team 13-2 in five innings. The game was never in doubt as the Wildcats played some of their best baseball of the season. Junior Brice Redden earned his first win of the season on the mound by going the distance. He struck out four while only surrendering two runs.
Keeton lead the team offensively by spraying line drives all over the field. Keeton smacked three hits which plated two runs while scoring twice.
“I usually just go into the box thinking I need to bring in some runs for my team,” said Keeton regarding his mentality in the batters box. “I try and get good base hits so we can score one or two runs.”
Other key offensive contributors included senior Alex Smith who had a two-hit game and freshman Nick Arkenau who had one hit and two RBIs.
The final game of the week saw the Wildcats avenge their previous loss against Newport with a 13-8 win in drizzling weather.
Junior Kalem Gosney started the game giving up two runs and striking out one. Senior Andrew Jordan relieved him giving up one hit and one earned run while walking two. Smith closed the game by striking out five while only giving up three hits.
Four players had multi-hit games at the plate including Brownfield and Verst who both had three hits. Keeton and Fultz both had two hits. Keeton’s were both sharply hit doubles.
The Wildcats play two games next week, both 38th District matchups. They face Harrison County (9-2) on Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. at home. Then they rematch Robertson County (1-5) on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at home. Game times are per KHSAA.
“I loved the way the guys played this weekend,” said Duffie. “This weekend was a lot of fun to be a part of. When we faced adversity, we were able to fight back. Owen County was a really good team who could really swing the bat. Now we’re looking ahead and preparing for a good opponent on Wednesday. It will be a good challenge for us and we’re looking forward to it.”
