Whiteoak comes from behind to beat St. Joes

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The Whiteoak Wildcats traveled to VA Stadium in Chillicothe on Wednesday, for a neutral site game, against the St. Joseph Flyers. The Wildcats registered the come-from-behind win by a score of 11-7.

The Wildcats dug themselves a hole early allowing the Flyers to put up six runs in the top of the third inning, to trail 6-2 heading into the bottom of the third. Starting pitcher Ryan Roberts was replaced, after allowing six earned runs, in the top of the third by Casey Nace, who promptly struck out the final batter of the inning.

Coach Chris Veidt said of Nace, “Casey Nace was the answer today. He turned the tide. He came in, in a tight spot, in relief for us. He is a selfless individual and because of that mind set he was able to carry us at times.”

Nace went on to strike out six batters in four innings of work, and only allowed one run to register the win.

After going down one, two, three in the bottom of the third inning, the Wildcats were able to gain some momentum in the bottom of the fourth inning scoring three runs to bring the Flyers’ lead to just one, 6-5, heading into the top of the fifth inning.

The Whiteoak defenders were able to keep the Flyers in check in the top of the fifth, forcing St. Joseph to leave three runners on base. The Wildcats offense was able to tie the game early in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a monster triple by Caleb West that scored Trever Yeager from first base, and gave the Wildcats the lead for the first time since leading 2-0 earlier in the game. Whiteoak led by a score of 7-6 entering the sixth inning.

The top of the sixth saw the Flyers score one run to tie the game at 7-7. The Wildcats answered the challenge in a big way in the bottom of the sixth by scoring four runs, essentially icing the game.

Nace led off the inning with a clutch double to put himself in scoring position. Traeten Hamilton was hit by a pitch in the next at bat to place runners on first and second. Chase Butler reached on a fielders choice, and an error on the second baseman, to load the bases for the Wildcats. Yeager cleaned things up for Whiteoak with a two RBI single. West drove in another run despite being put-out at first.

The Wildcats totaled 12 hits on the night and all but one player was able to register a hit.

The Wildcats are scheduled to play again on Thursday evening in Southern Hills Athletic Conference action.

Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or Twitter @RCApplegate89.

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By Ryan Applegate

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