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BB Fultz
It was a case of shaking off the rust for Pendleton County baseball in their Opening Week returning to the diamond. The Wildcats began their slate of games with two preseason matchups against 10th Region opponents. They finished the preseason at 1-1 losing to Calvary Christian in a tightly contested game while defeating Bracken County decisively the next day.
Calvary Christian was also the opponent to start off the regular season. Senior Alex Smith started the game on the mound. The Wildcats started off the game strong with senior Josh Brownfield scoring on a passed ball for their first official run of the 2021 season. Junior Brice Redden followed up the run by knocking in senior Tanner Keaton with an RBI single up the middle giving the Wildcats a 2-0.
The Cougars quickly struck back tying up the game at 2 in the 2nd inning. A controversial “catch, no-catch” call by the umpire on a fly ball to deep left field seemingly knocked off the Wildcats game flow. Freshman left fielder Kalem Gosney got twisted up on a fly ball. With the sun out in full force, it became difficult for the umpire to see whether the catch was completed. He eventually ruled in favor of Calvary Christian. A line drive single gave the Cougars the 3-2 lead and they never looked back.
From this point on, the Cougars had control of the game pitching well down the stretch and limiting errors. The Cougars were able to knock in 3 more runs while the Wildcats only managed to score 1. The Wildcats dropped their first game 6-3. The story of this game was plunking the opposing batters. The Wildcats surrendered far too many bases by hitting batters giving the Cougars free base runners which eventually came back around to score. Even with the hit batters, Smith pitched solid for his first outing only surrendering 1 official hit and giving up 3 earned runs. Freshman Michael Fultz picked up some good experience coming on in relief for Smith. Fultz struck out four batters. At the plate, the Wildcats struggled. Redden and junior Ethan Verst were the only players who picked up hits: Redden going 1-3 with an RBI and Verst also going 1-3.
The Wildcats rebounded the next day with a satisfying 16-5 victory in 6 innings over a pesky Newport team. Sophomore Connor Neltner started the game and pitched fantastic. Neltner had his fastball working for him. He struck out 8 batters and earned the W in 3.2 innings of work. Redden came on in relief to shut the door on Newport striking out 4 and surrendering no runs. The Wildcats were led by Verst on offense who was peppering doubles all over the outfield. His line drives in the gap and over the center fielder’s head earned Verst 4 RBIs and one of the best offensive games of his career. He also swiped 3 bags. 5 players scored twice for the Wildcats: Gosney, Brownfield, Austin Kirsch, and pinch runners Jacob Redden & Bradford Peoples.
The Wildcats controlled the game throughout and won decisively. Their next game against Nicholas County was their first big matchup of the season.
Senior Joey Ball got the ball for the Wildcats. He surrendered a run in the 1st inning giving Nicholas County the lead. The Wildcats struck back in the bottom of the 1st with Redden scoring Verst from 2nd base on an RBI line drive tying the game at 1.
The Blue Jackets slowly started to build on their lead as the game progressed. On the opposite side, the Wildcats could not get much going at the plate as Nicholas County pitcher Ryan Johnson was absolutely dealing. He was able to get many timely strikeouts both looking and swinging. His fastball velocity stayed consistent throughout the entirety of his innings.
In the top of the 4th inning, Verst came in to pitch in relief of Ball. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, their omen of hit batters plagued the team for the rest of the game. The Blue Jackets blew the game open after innings of walks, hits, errors and hit batsmen. The Wildcats lost the game 12-1.
For Nicholas County, it was a clean victory over a district opponent. For the Wildcats, it was a learning experience for what areas they need to work on heading into their second week of games.
The Wildcats must clean up their in-game mentality to compete with talented teams deeper into the season. The snowball effect of hitting many batters and misplaying balls gives opponents a mental boost. Runners get on base. Unfortunate errors happen. It is part of the game. It is baseball. The Wildcats can’t allow these types of events to effect their mentality on the field. Opponents will sense blood in the water and will react accordingly. The Blue Jackets did that on Saturday.
The Wildcats have another busy slate of games this week. They play at Bellevue on the 5th. First pitch is slated for 5:30 p.m. They are back home against Fleming County on the 7th at 5:30 p.m. They play an away game against Bracken County on the 8th at 5:00 p.m. They round out the week against Newport at home on the 12th. First pitch is slated for noon.