Story and Photos by Kailee Means
The Monterey Wildcats shut out the Clarkrange Buffaloes 16-0 on Friday night in baseball action.
The Wildcat offense started off strong with four runs in the first inning. In both the second and third innings, the Wildcats brought in six runs to push the lead to 16-0. In the field, Monterey kept Clarkrange off the scoreboard to close the game out early.
Head coach John Looper was particularly pleased with how his younger players performed.
“We got some young guys in the game,” Looper said. “We had some young pitchers that did a great job. The thing I was proud of was that our starters came in and put a bunch of runs up early. They did what they were supposed to do. They allowed us to sub late and get everybody some at-bats.”
Leo Roberts was a key contributor in the win, as he only allowed two hits and zero runs over three innings with two strikeouts. David Walker and Dawson Hedgecough entered to help close out the game.
Six runs came across in the third inning for the Wildcats, as the offense was led by walks from Garrett Wessels, Elijah Bean, Grayson Norrod, Colby Trevathan, and a home run by Evan Robinson.
Jay Tinch took a tough loss for the Buffaloes tonight. The pitcher went two innings, allowing 10 runs on seven hits, and only striking out one. The Buffaloes had three hits total for the night, coming from Tinch, Ethan Jones and Bo Ramsey.
For Looper, it’s not a performance he was surprised by, but he says it’s an indication of just how good his team could be when they play to their potential.
“As long as we throw strikes and we do what we are supposed to do, we could have a really good year,” Looper said.
The Wildcats will host Harriman at 5:30 p.m. on Monday night, while the Buffaloes will travel to Scott County at the same time on Monday..
“We are always trying to get better fundamentally,” Looper said. “That is what we continue to work on, and we still improve on every part. It also gives some guys some game experience and opportunities that we may need.”
