Story and photos by Kailee Means:
The Upperman Bees defeated in-county rival Monterey 11-5 on Friday night in baseball action.
The Bees struck first, bringing one run across in the first inning. The Wildcats then got some momentum, holding Upperman scoreless in the second and third inning, while they scored one run in each to take a 2-1 lead. The Bees responded by leaving the Wildcats scoreless in the next three innings while recording four more runs. The Bees secured their win in the seventh inning by bringing six runs in to Monterey’s three, making the final score 11-5.
“That is what you expect when you face a county rival,” said UHS head coach Wes Shanks. “That is why we enjoy playing this game, because the guys know each other. They have grown up playing with each other, and we can see the talk back and forth. That is fun, that is competing. We are really glad we got the win, because you come to a Monterey ball club that is very talented, they are going to be well coached by coach Looper, and you saw the score they hit the ball well against us.”
Shanks continued to compliment Monterey while emphasising his team’s play.
“So, you tip your cap to them and say ‘hey you are well coached and you got some great players on that team but it’s also comforting to know that we hit the ball just as well, pitched the ball just as well, and found ways that overall let us win this game.”
Alec Wilson started on the mound for the Bees, surrendering two runs over five innings, striking out eight and walking zero. Justin Fallon came in relief out of the bullpen for two innings. The Bees had a total of 18 hits throughout the game. Multiple hits were recorded for the Bees by Fallon, Carter Shanks, Caden Colson, Caden Shanks, and Caleb Rawdon. Shanks and Fallon each led with four hits. Fallon had a three-run homerun in the fourth inning to give the Bees the lead back. No errors were committed and Rookie Allsion had 12 chances in the field.
Jordan Loworn started on the mound for MHS, allowing eight hits, five runs and striking out two. The Wildcats had a total of eight hits throughout the game. Multiple hits were recorded for the Wildcats by Riley Franz, Brandon Dillion, Dillon Whitehead, and Lowhorn. Franz hit a solo homerun in the second inning. Lowhorn hit a three-run homerun in the seventh inning.
“We have had some great at-bats the past two to three weeks,” said Shanks. “I feel like our lineup is coming together. It doesn’t matter if we have zero, one or two strikes our guys are seeing the baseball and putting it in play.When you put the ball in play in high school baseball, things are going to happen. As far as our pitching goes we had some ups and downs, but that is going to happen. That is a tribute to some of our pitchers in their confidence and stamina mentally and physically just to stay accurate.”
The Wildcats will travel to Wartburg Central at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday for a district matchup.
“This is a rival game and we don’t get rival games much, because our district changed around a little bit,” said Shanks. “We are in 7/AAA and they are in AA now. Both schools are growing, so our area is changing a little bit. So we are developing new rivals but it is always nice to have these old rivals especially in-county. For us, playing the game of baseball the right way and doing the fundamentals, that is as a coaching staff what we are looking for.”
