Whiteoak travels to Paints Stadium to take on Belpre in Southeast District semi-final game

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Whiteoak’s Wildcats traveled to Chillicothe on Tuesday to take on the Belpre Eagles at Paints Stadium in a Southeast District Semi-Final baseball game.

An hour delay in the start of the game because of lightning and rain in the Chillicothe area saw the game start around 8:30 p.m. Despite the delayed start, the Wildcats were on point as they beat the Eagles 12-3 to advance to take on Waterford in the Southeast District Finals at Paints Stadium.

Evan Brill got the start and pitched five innings for the Wildcats for the win. Brill struck out five batters, issued two walks, allowed two hits and gave up three runs, all earned.

Offensively Whiteoak put up five runs in the bottom of the second inning. Brill led off with a walk and Trever Yeager drew a second walk following a fly ball by Mason Lehr to the right fielder for the first out of the inning. Casey Nace followed with an RBI single to score Brill from third.

Chase Butler then drew a walk to load the bases. Ryan Roberts was next to the plate and knocked a triple to right center field that cleared the bases. However, Butler was called out because he missed third base before crossing home plate. Traeten Hamilton followed with an RBI triple of his own to score Roberts and extend the Whiteoak lead to 4-0. Traeten Hamilton went on to score on a passed ball during the at bat of Chase Carraher to make it 5-0 for the Wildcats.

Belpre found their stroke at the plate in the top of the fourth inning with a lead off triple to place a runner 90 feet from home plate. The next batter hit into a fielder’s choice that saw a throw to the plate but, not in time as the runner scored from third base to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 5-1.

Whiteoak answered immediately in the bottom of the fourth inning as they plated three runs to extend their lead to 8-1.

Nace opened the inning with a double and stole third during Butler’s at bat that resulted in the first out of the inning. Roberts drew a walk in the next at bat to put runners on the corners before stealing second to put both Wildcat base runners in scoring position. Following the second out of the inning by Hamilton, Carraher singled to drive in Nace from third and advance Roberts to take his place.

Roberts then scored from third and Carraher advanced to second on a passed ball. A second passed ball in the inning resulted in Carraher scoring from third to extend the Wildcat’s lead to 8-1 after four innings of play.

The Eagles went right back on the offensive in the top of the fifth inning as they scored two runs to bring the score to 8-3. The lead off batter fro Belpre was hit by a pitch and then advanced to second base on a passed ball. A triple by the next Eagles batter scored the lead runner and a sacrifice fly resulted in the second run of the inning.

With one out in the bottom of the fifth inning Trever Yeager singled to reach base. Then a pick off attempt by the Belpre pitcher sailed past the first baseman and resulted in Yeager on third and itching to score. Yeager went on to score on a passed ball to extend the Whiteoak lead even further to 9-3 after five innings.

Whiteoak added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to provide the final score. Hamilton and Lehr pitched in relief of Brill in the sixth and seventh innings respectively. Hamilton and Lehr needed little time to get the job done as each faced only three batters apiece and struck them all out.

The win moves the Wildcats to 25-2 overall on the season and earns them the right to take on Waterford today at 7:30 p.m. at Paints Stadium in Chillicothe.

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

Whiteoak’s Caleb West is caught stealing in the bottom of the first inning Tuesday at Paints Stadium in Chillicothe against Belpre in a Southeast District Semi-Final baseball game.
http://www.timesgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2018/05/web1_Caleb-West-caught-stealing-1.jpgWhiteoak’s Caleb West is caught stealing in the bottom of the first inning Tuesday at Paints Stadium in Chillicothe against Belpre in a Southeast District Semi-Final baseball game.

By Ryan Applegate

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