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Abraham Beebe looks to steal a base. Photos courtesy of Sonja Barnard and Lisa Cooper. -
Michael Fultz delivers a pitch to the plate. Photos courtesy of Sonja Barnard and Lisa Cooper.
By Sonja Barnard and Sam McClanahan
The Pendleton County Wildcats baseball team dropped three contests last week to fall to 0-5 in the young season. Team head coach Nate Jones believes his squad is trending in the right direction and is a couple adjustments away from finding success.
The Wildcats hosted Bracken County on March 20 and suffered a 16-2 defeat. The Polar Bears took advantage of seven fielding errors by Pendleton County and ended the contest with a nine-run sixth inning. Senior Michael Fultz collected a double and scored for the Wildcats while freshman Micah Biddle drove in a run.
On March 21, the team hosted Harrison County and was defeated 14-2 in five innings. The Thorobreds scored runs in each inning and outhit the Wildcats 11-7. Michael Fultz and Austin Kirsch drove in runs for Pendleton County as Cole Harlow doubled and Nick Arkenau added two hits during the game. The Wildcats concluded the week with their third straight home game in hosting Bath County on March 23. This matchup featured plenty of offense on both sides but errors would once again plague the Wildcats as they committed seven during a 9-7 loss. Leading 5-4 to begin the sixth inning, Bath County would put four runs across the plate to go ahead 9-4. Pendleton County would make things interesting with a three-run effort in the bottom of the seventh but the rally would ultimately fall short. Michael Fultz led the Wildcats with three hits at the plate including a pair of RBI's. The Kirsch twins, Austin and Aaron, each doubled and drove in runs while Harlow singled twice in the loss.
Pendleton County head coach Nate Jones saw some positives during the games and believes his team can overcome the early season mistakes.
"We haven’t had the start to the season that we would have liked but the boys are still progressing in the right direction," Jones said. "We’ve improved our hitting and pitching through out the first two weeks. Our defense has struggled out of the gate but the boys never give up. They work hard each and everyday to improve. It’s still early in the season so I have faith we will clean it up and be playing better defense in no time," he added.
This week, the Wildcats travel to take on Augusta and Lewis County followed by home games with Mason County on March 28 and Nicholas County on March 29.