After a tough 3-2 loss against the Churchill Bulldogs, the Wildcats hosted the Whitman Vikings on April 20. This was a highly anticipated game as the Vikings had defeated the Bulldogs eight days prior by a score of 6-2.
The Vikings started out strong with one run in the first inning. The Wildcats struggled at first against Whitman’s ace, Lion Gardiner.
Junior Jay Wandell pitched a near flawless game. After surrendering one run in the first, he silenced the Vikings bats for the next six innings.
“I think we got off to a slow start, but we started hitting better off their good pitching. Our defense played really well and helped us get the outs we needed to win the game,” Wandell said.
The Wildcats showed up in the bottom of the second inning. Junior Jake Goldberg reached second base on an error by the catcher. Sophomore Shaun Rudick and junior Aidan Watts both collected one-run singles, giving WJ the lead 2-1.
In the third, Wandell started strong with a triple. Junior Nick Zayas pinch-ran for Wandell and got home on a wild pitch. After four walks, senior Braden LaChapelle collected the Wildcats’ fourth run off of a pitcher error.
Wells Twining relieved Gardiner in the bottom of the fourth. Junior Vance Bonior and sophomore Ethan Hsu hit singles. LaChappelle was hit by a pitch and loaded the Wildcat’s bases. Goldberg hit a one-run single. Ending the fourth 5-1.
Both team’s pitchers finished with clean innings, the final score remained 5-1. This huge win for the Wildcats leaves their record at 11-4-1. Their next game is against Quince Orchard on Wednesday, April 26.
