5-11-2011 vs. Danville Vikings
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| NCWHS Wildcats |
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| Danville Vikings |
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Wildcats Miss Opportunities to Beat Danville
Missed opportunities was the name of the game when the Normal West Wildcats lost a 2-1 Big 12 Conference stunner to host Danville. After conceding a first inning run that shouldn’t have scored, the Wildcats got the leadoff man on base in four of the next five innings and each time got the runner to third base, but could never get the key hit to gain momentum. Ultimately, a completely unexpected walk off home run silenced the Wildcats in the bottom of the 7th inning, sending the record to 22-6 overall and 7-2 in conference.
Wildcat ace Matthew James went to the mound to face Viking ace Cody Burton. The Wildcats gave up a run in the first when, with two outs, a lazy fly ball fell in shallow left field to keep the inning alive and the next batter got a hit. The Wildcats looked to tie it up in the second when Trey Rogers doubled down the left field line, Adam Seifert got hit by a pitch and they were sacrificed over, but not that inning. In the 4th a Wes Sery double and infield grounder that moved him up didn’t amount to anything when the squeeze play failed. Erik Sipes singled, got moved over and stole third base in the 5th, but we came up empy there too.
In the top of the 6th inning the Wildcats tied the game when Kyle Vaughn led off with a walk and Adam McGinnis doubled into the gap in right center. After Sery’s second hit of the game put runners on the corners, he stole second. Again, Burton’s strong pitching silenced the Wildcats.
In the 7th, Danville’s Zach Thomas worked a long at bat into a full count, plus a couple of foul balls, before homering just over the left field fence to end the game and start a huge Viking celebration.
James threw six plus innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk with ten strikeouts. Wes Sery led the Cats with two hits while Adam McGinnis had the only RBI.
The Wildcats return to action tomorrow with a trip to Decatur for the second game against the MacArthur Generals