RSS Feed
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Tiger junior varsity baseball team 3-2; looking forward to week full of action The Washington-Wilkes Tiger Junior Varsity is 3-2 for the season as the team looks ahead to a week full of coming action. Having lost to Thomson and settling for a split in a Harlem doubleheader, the young Tigers handily beat both Lincoln County and Oglethorpe. A second game with Lincoln County on Wednesday of this week was played after the deadline for this issue. Details will be reported as they are made available. For the next week, a slate of three games will keep the JV busy. On Saturday, March 24, the team will host the Thomson Bulldogs. The boys will remain at home on Monday, March 26, when Oglethorpe County's Patriots come to down. Then, next Wednesday, the Tigers will go on the road to Milledgeville for a doubleheader with the Bulldogs. Results of the first five games, as reported by Coach Robert Wheeler, are recorded below. vs. Oglethorpe Co. - March 19 The Tigers pounded the Oglethorpe Patriots 15-2 Monday in Lexington. Spencer Swinson led the hit parade going 2-for-3 with a solo home run in the first, igniting the Tiger bats. Lee Thomson was 3-for-3, Clint Echols, Trent Martin, Derrek Ferris, and Graham Echols each had two hits and Preston Hardin, Matson Keiser, and Zach Murray had one each. Echols got the win on the mound pitching four strong innings allowing only two runs on one hit. Murray came on in relief to shut down the Patriots in the fifth and sixth innings. The young Tiger defense made plays all afternoon in the field committing no errors. vs. Thomson - March 17 W-W rallied in the top of the seventh to score twice but it was not enough as the Tigers fell to the Bulldogs, 5-4, last Saturday in Thomson. D.J. Barnett pitched 5-1/3 strong innings allowing only three earned runs. Murray threw well, closing out the bottom of the sixth. The Tigers had the bases loaded in the first but failed to score. "We had base runners on, but had a hard time getting them across," Wheeler said. The Tigers left a total of 7 men in scoring position. Wheeler was pleased with the effort his Tigers showed, never giving up and plating two runs in the the last frame after two were out and nobody on base. "The team is starting to come together and communicate with one another," he said. "The team seems to be more relaxed and can now react to the situation without having to stop and think about what to do." vs. Harlem (game 1) - March 8 The Tigers jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the top of the first but it wasn't enough as the Harlem Bulldogs won the first game of the doubleheader 10-7. The Tigers hit the ball well in the first inning but the Bulldog defense stiffened up and shut out the Tigers until the bottom of the fifth. It was too little to late for the Tigers who managed to score two runs in the last frame. vs. Harlem (game 2) - March 8 Barnett pitched a complete game to record his first win of the season and help lead the Tigers to a 5-3 victory over the Harlem Bulldogs. "DJ pitched a great game and his defense made plays behind him. It was a big win for our confidence as a team," Wheeler said. The Tigers were able to manufacture five runs through the 5-inning game. "We did a much better job of running the bases and playing small ball at the plate, executing on several sacrifice bunts and hit and runs," Wheeler commented. vs. Lincoln County - March 6 The Tigers scored 12 runs in the fifth and sixth innings to blow past Lincoln County and claim the victory 17-7 in the season opener for the JV Baseball Tigers. The Red Devils jumped out to an early lead after a few mistakes by the inexperienced Tigers. But W-W regained focus and battled to within two after 4-1/2 innings of baseball. Then in the fifth inning, the Tigers' bats came alive and crushed the ball scoring seven runs. In the next frame the Tigers scored five more runs to end the game via the mercy rule. Coach Wheeler was very happy with the win and the way the players kept fighting and believing in themselves and each other. "We made more errors and walked more batters than I would like, but those kind of mistakes are to be expected this early in the season," he said. "I was very pleased with how our team rallied around each other and encouraged when someone struck out or didn't make a play."
Echols started the game and pitched well striking out six through four innings. Murray, who came on in relief, recorded the win as he blanked the Red Devils through two frames.
|
for larger version       |
|||||||||||||||||||||
