Category: 2011 Varsity News

5-12-2011 vs. Decatur MacArthur Generals

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
NCWHS Wildcats	1	0	0	0	5	9	X	15	12	0
MacArthur Generals	0	3	0	0	0	1	X	4	7	5

 

Wildcats Pounce on the Generals

The score shows a ten-run rule six inning game, but it was much closer than that for most of the game when the Normal West Wildcats downed the Decatur MacArthur Generals 15-4 at Decatur.  On a very nice spring day for a ballgame, the West bats were handcuffed for four innings with lots of pop ups and fly balls right at fielders. Once the bats started producing line drives and hard ground balls, the Wildcats started circling the bases, leading to the comfortable win.  The victory ups the Wildcat’s overall record to 23-6 and 8-2 in Big 12 Conference play.

The Wildcats broke out to a 1-0 lead in the 1^st inning when Alex Jefferson walked, stole second and scored on Wes Sery’s double over the center fielder.  The General struck back with three in the second off Wildcat starter Kyle Vaughn. 

The Wildcats got the bats going in the 5^th inning when Alex Jefferson led off by getting hit.  Kyle Vaughn’s bunt down the third base line was thrown away by the pitcher, scoring Jefferson and sending Vaughn all the way to third base.  Wes Sery singled to center to score Vaughn.  Trey Rogers then singled, but Sery got cut down at the plate.  After Adam Seifert walked, Erik Sipes singled to center to score Rogers and send Seifert to third.  Nolan Caldwell queued one to first that took a funny hop past the first baseman to score Seifert and Jake McDowell followed that with an RBI single to make it 6-3.

In the 6^th inning, Jefferson led off again with a walk. Vaughn followed with the same before Sery picked up his third hit, driving in Jefferson.  Rogers walked to load the bases again before a Sipes grounder to third was misplayed to score Vaughn.  Matthew James then doubled to drive in a run and McDowell singled again to drive in Sipes.  James scored when the ball got away between the pitcher and catcher before Jefferson and Vaughn both walked again.  Adam McGinnis singled to left field to drive in two and Sery finished a perfect day with his fourth hit to drive in Vaughn.

Vaughn pitched four innings to pick up his sixth win on the year.  He gave up three runs on six hits and five strikeouts.  Dustin Detweiler pitched a perfect 5^th with two strikeouts and Mac Byrd finished out in the 6^th with one run on one hit and two strikeouts.

Sery led the Wildcats with four hits, while Vaughn and McDowell had two.  McDowell and McGinnis led the Wildcats with two RBIs.

The Wildcats travel to Champaign on Saturday for a conference matchup with the Central Maroons at 10:00 AM.

5-11-2011 vs. Danville Vikings

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
NCWHS Wildcats	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	7	1
Danville Vikings	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	5	0

 

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 7^th 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 4^th 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 5^th, but we came up empy there too.

In the top of the 6^th 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 7^th, 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

5-10-2011 vs. Decatur MacArthur Generals

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
MacArthur Generals	0	0	1	0	0	X	X	1	5	3
NCWHS Wildcats	2	0	5	3	1	X	X	11	11	2

 

Wildcats Outbattle the Generals

The Normal West Wildcats took care of business in an 11-1 home victory over the Decatur MacArthur Generals in Big 12 action at West Varsity Field.  Nick Barnhill got his first varsity start as a Wildcat and handled the job well to get his first varsity win.  The offense hit a lot of line drives on another day when the wind was howling straight in from center field.  The win ups the Wildcats’ record to 22-5 overall and 7-1 in conference play.

 Barnhill settled right in on the mound, striking out three in the first inning.  The only run he gave up came in the third inning and was unearned.  For the game, he pitched five innings and gave up one run on five hits with a walk and nine strikeouts.

The Wildcats struck early on offense, getting two in the 1^st inning when Alex Jefferson led off with a double off the wall in left, Kyle Vaughn walked and Adam McGinnis got hit by a pitch to load the bases.  After Jefferson got a little aggressive and got picked off third, a balk moved the runners up and Trey Rogers doubled them both in.  In the 3^rd, Wes Sery singled to right, as did Rogers to put runners on the corners.  Rogers then stole second.  Erik Sipes got an RBI with a groundout that moved the runners and Matthew James singled to score Rogers.  James stole second and moved to third on the high catcher’s throw.  Garrett Cook walked and took second before James stole home, beating a high and outside pitch as the catcher couldn’t hang on to the ball.  Cook moved to third on the play.  Jefferson then got hit and stole second before both runners scored on an infield error.

In the 4^th, McGinnis led off with a single and Sery singled for his second hit.  An errant pick off throw allowed McGinnis to score and Sery to move up before Rogers brought him home with a sacrifice fly to center. Adam Seifert then got hit and stole second , moved up on a ground ball and scored on a wild pitch.  In the 5^th, McGinnis, Sery and Rogers singles led to a walk by Erik Sipes that forced in the winning run.

Wes Sery and Trey Rogers led the Wildcats with three hits, while Adam McGinnis had two.  Rogers led the Wildcats with three runs batted in while Sipes had two.

The Wildcats head to Danville to face the Vikings tomorrow in a key conference matchup at 4:30 at Danville Stadium.   See you there.