DISTRICT 7-3A TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS: Livingston Wins Game One At White County, 8-2

By Michael Lindsay

The District 7-3A tournament best-of-three semifinal series between Livingston and White County got underway on Thursday with the Wildcats traveling to Sparta and defeating the Warriors in game one, 8-2.

“Game one of any three-game series is huge,” said Livingston head coach Jamie Loftis. “We came out and did everything we really didn’t do in the first two games against them. We finally barreled up some balls and did a good job of not taking good pitches; we attacked the pitches in the zone.”

Livingston pitcher Ethan Westmoreland led the way with 11 strikeouts while allowing only 2 hits in the complete-game victory. Westmoreland helped himself at the plate by going 3-4 with 2 doubles, 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored.

“Everything was working for him,” said Loftis. “The fastball was there, and now we’ve got one game to win and everybody left to do it.”

White County loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the first inning, but Westmoreland worked out of the jam and allowed only one run to score as White County led 1-0 after one inning.

“We got in trouble early, and I think was crucial that we got out of that with only giving up one run,” said Loftis. “Ethan got a good come-backer there and made the play, then struck a couple guys out. That was a big that was a big turning point.”

The Wildcats got on the board in the top of the second as a Ben Threet bunt scored Westmoreland followed by Sawyer McBride scoring via a balk to give Livingston a 2-1 lead after two innings.

Neither team scored in the third or fourth innings before Livingston found their groove at the plate in the top of the fifth inning. Three consecutive singles by Corbin Bournes, Drew Goolsby and Threet loaded the bases for Westmoreland, who delivered a bases-clearing double to center to give Livingston a 5-1 lead. McBride and Ben Threet followed with back-to-back RBI doubles along with a bases-loaded walk later in the frame to give Livingston an 8-1 lead after the top-half of the fifth inning.

White County tacked on a run in the bottom of the seventh before Livingston shut the door on game one to win 8-2.

Game two is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. at Livingston and will air on UCR’s Facebook and YouTube.