The rain held off just long enough on Wednesday for ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Catholic and Scott to get their baseball game in at Shawnee Sports Complex.
No one was happier about that than Irish coach Will Bobinger, who saw his team pound the Skyhawks for nine hits and take advantage of three errors for a 9-4 win in a matchup of two early contenders in Class AA Region 4.
“So, we’re hoping Scott goes down and beats Logan,†Bobinger said, “and then all of us will have a loss in the region, and then the No. 1 seed will be a big question mark if that happens.â€
The Skyhawks (7-3) led the game after their first at-bat, then watched Catholic (6-5) tie it in the first, seize control in the middle innings and hold Scott off the scoreboard in the final three frames to take the victory.
“We finally played up to what I think the potential of our team is,†Bobinger said. “We played a very solid game. Defensively, we made some very good plays. Pitching-wise, we stayed around the plate, we were able to do some things there, and Barrett Brown came in and shut them down at the end.
“Offensively, we were able to put some good innings together. Overall, I’m just very happy with the way they performed and hope we can continue to do it this way.â€
Leading 2-0 after the top of the first, Scott appeared to be ready to handle the Irish much the same way the Skyhawks did in defeating defending state runners-up Independence and George Washington. However, coach Kris Barrett said he saw Scott play unusually flat.
“We’re a really good baseball team, and today we went back into the ways of laziness, kind of, and not expecting to win,†Barrett said.
“That’s not what we’ve been. It’s not our brand of baseball. We pride ourselves, especially this year, on putting quality at-bats together, and we didn’t do that. We didn’t have a plan at the plate, and they exposed that.â€
Connor Jarvis started on the mound for Catholic, and he struck out the leadoff batter, Scott’s Hunter Woodrum, for the first of 11 punchouts.
However, Jarvis hit the next batter, Carter McClung, and the inning began to unravel. Louden White followed with a single, sending McClung to third. McClung then scored on a wild pitch.
Kedron Elkins drove in White with an RBI single that made it 2-0 for Scott.
Catholic immediately answered in its half of the first against White. Luke Blaydes singled to lead off and Jonah DiCocco and Jarvis each delivered RBI doubles to tie the score.
A walk to McClung in the top of the third and an Irish error gave Scott a 3-2 lead. Then Catholic took the lead for good in the bottom of the inning.
One-out singles by Xander Allara and DiCocco set the table for Zaden Ranson’s two-run double off the fence in right field. Both runners scored on the 111th hit of the junior catcher’s career, which set his three-year RBI mark at 100.
Ranson scored on an error after a single by Jarvis to give Catholic a 5-3 lead.
Scott added its final run in the fourth by Ryan Neal. Meanwhile, four walks issued by the Skyhawks in the fourth, plus a balk and an error, led to two more Irish runs for a 7-4 lead.
Jarvis’ second double of the game in the fifth, a passed ball by Scott, a bunt single by Jaxon Kimble and another Skyhawks error gave Catholic two more runs in the fifth to set the final score.
Brown pitched two shutout innings of relief of Jarvis, adding a strikeout to give the Irish pitchers 12 for the game.
Ranson’s two RBIs led ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Catholic in that category. Jarvis was 3 for 3 at the plate with a walk, two doubles, a single and an RBI. Danny Linton and DiCocco also had RBIs.
DiCocco had two hits, including a double. Blaydes, Allara, Kimble and Ryan each had a hit.
For Scott, Elkins led the way with two hits and an RBI. Woodrum, White and Kuhn each had singles to account for the Skyhawks’ five hits.
SCOTT 201 100 0 — 4 5 3
CHAS. CATHOLIC 203 220 x — 9 9 1
White, Null (3), Woodrum (5) and Ferrell, White (5); Jarvis, Brown (5) and Ranson.
Hitting: (S) Elkins 2-3, RBI; Kuhn 1-3. (C) Jarvis 3-3, 2 2B, RBI; Ranson 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI; DiCocco 2-4, 2B, RBI.
