Pendleton County baseball went 1-1 over the past week improving their overall record on the season to 12-13 overall. Heading into the final week of the season, the Wildcats have a 6-9 record against 10th Region opponents and a 2-4 record against 38th District opponents.
It was a polarizing week for the Wildcats who won a game against a quality opponent in dominating fashion but lost a walk-off heartbreaker only days later.
The Wildcats’ first game of last week resulted in an 11-1 win in six innings against rival Bracken County. The third time was the charm for the Wildcats who suffered two early season losses to the Polar Bears.
Nine Wildcats finished with a hit with four getting a multi-hit game. Each player with a multi-hit game hit a double. Sophomore Ethan Verst finished 2-4 with four RBIs to lead the team. Junior Brice Redden went 2-3 with two RBIs and slugged his third home run of the season. Senior Josh Brownfield and sophomore Connor Neltner both went 2-4.
On the mound, Neltner pitched five efficient innings throwing only 70 total pitches. He gave up only one earned run, three hits and struck out one while walking only two. Verst came on in relief in the 6th inning to shut the door on the Polar Bears. He gave up only one hit and struck out one.
We played well in all three phases of the game,” said Head Coach Colin Duffie. “We played great defense, hit great and ran the bases well. Bracken County is a good team and when we play baseball like that, there’s not many teams who will be able to beat us.”
A few days later, Cov. Holy Cross defeated the Wildcats on a walk-off hit by pitch 5-4. After surrendering some runs early in the game, the Wildcats clawed back into the game offensively eventually holding a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the 7th inning.
Senior Joey Ball pitched six and 1/3 innings striking out three batters. It was another quality outing for Ball who backed himself up on offense with a double deep to left field in the middle innings. Redden led the Wildcats with two hits. Verst drew an impressive three walks.
Verst was substituted for Ball to close the game in a tight spot. After a liner up the middle to tie the game, the Wildcats decided to intentionally walk the current batter to load the bases. With one out, Verst’s breaking ball broke late and grazed the batter in the top of the foot giving the Indians the walk-off victory.
It was a tough loss for the Wildcats who felt like they should’ve won the game. However, that’s the game of baseball and situations like those inevitably happen. The loss shouldn’t take away from the quality baseball they’ve been playing recently.
“We gave up some runs early in the game we really shouldn’t have that came back to haunt us,” said Duffie. “We gave up too many freebies. The loss was hard but it was also a learning experience.”
The Wildcats have three regular season games left. They play at Augusta on Monday at 5:30 p.m. Results of this game will be final before publication. On Tuesday, the Wildcats rematch Campbell County at home. First pitch is slated for 5 p.m. They round out the week at Bishop Brossart on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
The 38th District tournament is this Saturday at Robertson County. Harrison County and Nicholas County, who are tied for 1st place in the District, will have a coin flip to decide the final seeding..
Wildcats overpower Polar Bears
Image
Body