Cougars Go 0-3 In
Own Wood Bat Tourney
The Cougars had a tough weekend as they dropped three straight games in their South Central Wooden
Bat Tournament.
It all started when they lost a 5-2 decision to Casey-Westfield on Friday night, a team they previously had
beaten 6-1.
After the Cougars took a 2-0 lead after four innings, the Warriors tied it up in the 5th and tacked on
three more in the 6th to account for the final margin.
Starting pitcher Nick Simmons suffered the loss to drop his record to 2-2 on the season as he surrendered
all five runs on seven hits.
Offensively, the Cougars managed only two hits for the game, one a solo home run by Spencer Patton and the
other an RBI single from James Gile.
On Saturday morning in game two, the Cougars went toe-to-toe with Ladue for ten innings before the Rams
delivered a knockout blow by scoring seven times in their half of the eleventh to win going away.
The Cougars had several chances to pull this one out, but couldn't seem to get the timely hit or make the
big play to finish them off.
Holding a slim 4-3 lead with one out in the bottom of the seventh, Spencer Patton relieved starting pitcher
Wade Crain and struck out the first batter he faced, but the Rams scored the tying run on a double, a walk, and a single.
Patton would go on to pitch three scoreless innings of relief, but when Tyler Mulvany entered to relieve him
in the top of the 11th, the Rams went to work.
Although the Cougars couldn't seem to push across a game-winning run in the extra frames, they did bang
out 13 hits for the game.
Wade Crain lashed three singles and Blake Lane, James Gile, and Nick Simmons all added two safeties apiece
to lead the way.
In game three, starting pitcher Marcus Hicks pitched masterfully against Columbia, who ended up as the tournament
champ, by holding them to three runs on five hits.
The Cougars committed some costly mistakes in the field and on the bases and still couldn't get a timely hit
when they needed one in the 3-2 loss.
Offensively, the Cougars were led by Crain, Lane, and Gile with a pair of hits each.
The Cougars are back in action on Monday when they travel to Mulberry Grove to battle the Aces.