Cougars Take Two of Three,
Record Stands at 15-2
Although
the Cougars lost a close one at Centralia on Tuesday, they did pick up wins against Vandalia and Noble on Monday and Wednesday
and ran their record to an impressive 15-2 mark overall.
In Monday's game at Lions Field, the Cougars had their hitting shoes on as they
wore out the Vandal's pitching staff to the tune of 19 hits and 19 runs.
They picked up three in the first inning when Tyler Burns and Matt Hicks started
the game with consecutive hits, and after a flyout to center, Brock Adams(1 RBI) and Spencer Patton(2 RBI's) each delivered
run-scoring singles.
Vandalia also scored three times in their first three at-bats, but the Cougars regained
the lead in the bottom of the third on back-to-back doubles by Brian Wodtka and Patton and an RBI single from Shane Landreth.
The Cougars tacked on five more runs in the fourth on six hits, the big blows coming
from Brock Adams(2 RBI double), Nick Jones(RBI single), and Patton again(2 RBI double).
With the score now 10-3, the Vandals plated two in the fifth, but the Cougars upped
their total again, this time with one in their half of the fifth and two more in the sixth to close out the scoring for a
final of 13-5.
Wodtka, in his second start of the season, picked up the win by pitching 4
1/3 innings and Miles Yates closed things out to get the save.
Tuesday's game at Centralia turned out to be a classic pitching dual between the
Orphans' Phil McGrath and the Cougars' Spencer Patton. Each team could only muster 3 hits each off of the crafty righthanders
and Centralia eventually prevailed by a score of 3-2.
The Orphans were also very solid in the field and made every routine play that came
their way. Although the Cougars played well defensively overall, they did committ a couple of costly miscues that led to runs
and the offense couldn't generate enough steam to overcome them.
Matt Hicks had one of the three Cougar hits and it came in the first on a bunt single
down the line to third. After a stolen base, he would eventually score on a pair of pass balls.
Trey Garrett collected one of the hits in the fourth on a long double into the left-center
gap and after a sacrifice bunt by Patton, scored when Nick Jones lofted a sacrifice fly to left.
With the score knotted at 2-2 in the last half of the sixth, the Orphans put two
runners on with a pair of walks, and after a pass ball, the game winning run scored from third on a nicely executed suicide
squeeze.
Patton went the distance allowing only the three hits, along with six strikeouts
and four walks.
Wednesday's game at home with Noble got out of hand in a hurry as the Courgars sent
fourteen men to the plate in the first inning and racked up eleven runs.
The big blows in the inning came from Wodtka and Landreth as each blasted home runs,
Wodtka's a 2-run shot and Landreth's a 3-run job.
They scored four more in the second and four more over the next two innings to land
the final knockout blow and the Wildcats crawled home with a 19-0 defeat.
The Cougars are back at it again this weekend when they travel south to participate
in the Benton Tournament. They are scheduled to play Eldorado at 12:30 PM and the host Benton Rangers at 3:00 PM.
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