3-24-2010 vs Morton

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Morton Potters	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	4	4	4
NCWHS Wildcats	3	0	0	0	2	0	X	5	6	7

Wildcats Beat Morton 5-4 in Home Opener

The Normal West Wildcats got clutch pitching and timely hitting down the stretch in a 5-4 victory over the Morton Potters.  Erik Sipes pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball to get the win, allowing no hits and striking out four, including a key 4^th inning strikeout with the bases loaded.  He gave up two walks and hit a batter.  Jason Cullen started on the mound and pitched well, only allowing two earned runs on four hits with four strikeouts.  Cullen and Sipes stranded eight Potters on the bases over the first four innings to keep the game tight.

Wildcat bats again struck early, scoring three in the bottom of the first inning.  Michael Collins led off with a double down the right field line.  Kyle Vaughn’s sacrifice bunt was thrown away by the pitcher to score Collins and put Vaughn at second base.  Vaughn came around to score on two wild pitches.  Wes Sery kept the threat going with a walk and was moved up on a Jacob Birlingmaier single to left.  An Adam Seifert grounder to short was misplayed to bring Sery home. 

In the 5^th inning, the Wildcat took the lead for good when Brock Stewart led off with a shot off the center field fence for a double.  Jason Cullen followed with an infield single to put runners on the corners before a Wes Sery ground ball scored Stewart with the tying run.  Sery took second on the play on a bad throw by the shortstop.  Adam Seifert singled up the middle to score Sery with the go ahead run. 

Brock Stewart led the Wildcats with two hits and a walk while Jason Cullen reached base three times on a hit and two walks.   

The Wildcats get right back into the action, playing Lincoln and O’Fallon in back to back games at O’Fallon on Saturday.

3-24-2010 at Oak Forest Bengals

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
NCWHS Wildcats	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	2
Oak Forest Bengals	0	0	0	7	1	3	X	11	6	0

Wildcats Fall to Bengals in Season Opener

The Normal West Wildcats jumped out to an early lead in their season opener at Oak Forest, but ultimately fell 11-2 to the Bengals.  The Wildcats got on top early with two runs in the top of the first.  Kyle Vaughn walked to start the rally.  Brock Stewart tripled to deep left center, scoring Vaughn.  Jason Cullen then drilled a single down the third base line to score Stewart.  Unfortunately, that was about all of the offense for the Wildcats as they didn’t have any more hits and only a few base runners on walks.

  Michael Collins started on the mound for the Wildcats and pitched three strong inning before running into trouble in the fourth.   A couple of singles, followed by a couple of walks, got the Bengals on the scoreboard and opened the floodgates.  Tyler Emmerson relieved Collins in the 4^th, with Kyle Vaughn and Brandon Brittin relieving later in the game.  Wildcat pitchers struggled with finding the strike zone, allowing fourteen walks and hitting one batter, to go with four strikeouts and six hits allowed.

The Wildcats were scheduled to get back in action the very next day at home against Morton, but rain has cancelled the game as of the writing of this article.   It is rescheduled for Friday, 3/26, at Wildcat Varsity Field