The Wildcat baseball season has officially come to end with a 4-1 loss to rival Nicholas County in the first round of the 38th District tournament. They finished their season at 13-16 overall with a 7-12 record against 10th Region opponents and a 2-5 record against 38th District opponents.
Dalton Davenport was the winning pitcher for the Blue Jackets. He struck out a total of 13 Wildcat batters while allowing only one hit and one earned run. Senior Joey Ball, the starting pitcher for the Wildcats, allowed three hits and zero earned runs over four innings.
The Wildcats held the Blue Jackets scoreless until the fourth inning. Head Coach Colin Duffie substituted sophomore Ethan Verst in to pitch for Ball. After a double and two walks, Tate Letcher hit a two out double to clear the bases giving the Blue Jackets a 3-0 lead. They added one more run in the bottom of the 6th inning to take a 4-0 lead.
Verst was able to score on a single to right field by Ball to give the Wildcats their lone run of the ballgame in the 7th inning.
Three Wildcat batters finished the season with over a .300 batting average. Ethan Verst lead the team in hitting with 35 total hits, 30 RBIs, 10 doubles and 1 triple. He finished the season with a .398 batting average per KHSAA. He also led the team in walks with 18 and 37 stolen bases. Junior Brice Redden finished with a .351 average, 27 total hits, five doubles and one triple. He led the team in home runs with three and in RBIs with 37. Sophomore Connor Neltner finished with a .304 average, 28 total hits, nine RBIs, four doubles and a triple. Senior Josh Brownfield finished with a .281 average, 27 total hits, 17 RBIs, five doubles and 21 stolen bases. Joey Ball finished with a .263 average, 21 hits, 11 RBIs, four doubles and 12 walks.
Verst led the team in pitching with a 2.68 ERA, 64 strikeouts, 17 earned runs allowed and 25 walks in 41.2 innings pitched. Ball finished with a 3.31 ERA, 48 strikeouts, 23 earned runs allowed and 31 walks in 48.2 innings pitched. Neltner finished with a 3.85 ERA, 36 strikeouts, 22 earned runs allowed and 29 walks in 40 innings pitched. He led the team in pitching wins with 4.
The four Wildcats seniors: Ball, Brownfield, Andrew Jordan and Alex Smith were Duffie’s first senior class he oversaw since they were freshman. The strides they made were exponential with two, Jordan and Smith, signed to play college baseball. They should be commended for leading by example, working hard and laying a solid foundation for the program to improve upon.
The young roster is loaded with talent who will continue to improve over the summer and into the fall. Verst, Neltner, Redden all return as potential all-region players going into the next season. Behind them are players such as Michael Fultz, Aaron Kirsch, Austin Kirsch, Abraham Beebe and Nick Arkenau who have all logged significant varsity innings over the past season and will begin to come into their own as they progress over the offseason.