News – Page 44 – Normal West Baseball

March 20, 2011March 26, 2011

Pekin 03-19-2011 Varsity

03-19-2011 vs. Pekin Dragons

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Pekin Dragons	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	3	8	2
NCWHS Wildcats	2	1	0	1	0	2	X	6	6	0

Wildcats Beat the Dragons

The Normal West Wildcats completed the Saturday sweep in Galesburg with a 6-3 victory over the Pekin Dragons. The Wildcats move to 2-0 on the season.

The Wildcats got out to a 2-0 lead in the 1^st inning when Alex Jefferson led off with a walk, stole second, moved to third on an infield out and scored on an Adam McGinnis sacrifice fly to center. Wes Sery then walked, stole second and scored on a Kyle Vaughn single up th e middle. In the 2^nd, the Wildcats added to the lead Erik Sipes got aboard on a Dragon error and moved up on wild pitches. Ryan Speller then walked to put runners on the corners. Sipes was out at the plate on an attempted squeeze, but Speller moved to second. The next batter grounded to short and Speller was able to race home when the second baseman threw wildly on the double play attempt. In the 4^th, Garrett Cook doubled to right and moved to third on an infield out before scoring on a balk.

After the Dragons made it 4-3 with two runs in the 6^th inning, the Wildcats got some insurance runs in their half with two outs when Alex Jefferson beat out an infield hit, Adam Seifert doubled him home with a drive over the center fielder and Adam McGinnis doubled Seifert home with a shot to right center.

03-19-2011 v Pekin — Adam Seifert (Click on photos to see all photos in set)

Adam Seifert took the win on the mound with 5 2/3 innings of work. He gave up three runs on six hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Alex Jefferson worked the final inning and a third to get the save, allowing no runs on two hits, a hit batter and three strikeouts.

Six Wildcats had a hit in the game with Jefferson scoring two runs and McGinnis driving in two.

The Wildcats return to action at home on Tuesday with a varsity/junior varsity doubleheader against Moline at 2:00.

March 20, 2011March 26, 2011

Moline 03-19-2011 Varsity

03-19-2011 vs. Moline Maroons at Galesburg

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
NCWHS Wildcats	0	1	0	0	2	0	1	4	6	4
Moline Maroons	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	3	3

Wildcats Open Season With 4-2 Victory

The Normal West Wildcats got a real test against the Moline Maroons, but passed it with a 4-2 victory. On an early Saturday morning at sunny, but cool Galesburg, the Wildcats broke open a tight game in the 5^th inning with 2 runs and closed the door on the Maroons in the late innings to open the season.

The game set up to be a pitchers duel between Wildcat ace Kyle Vaughn and Moline fireballer Seth Fuller, with a nice breeze at their back. Through four innings that held true as the Maroons were scoreless on one hit and the Wildcats had the lone run on two hits. Adam McGinnis singled in the 2^nd inning and moved up on an infield ground out. When the next batter struck out, but the catcher missed the ball, the batter got in a rundown between first and second base and allowed McGinness to score on a wild throw.

In the 5^th, Erik Sipes led off with a walk before a Matthew James grounder was misplayed by the Maroons putting runners on first and second. A wild pitch moved them up before Garrett Cook’s dribbler up the first base line had the pitcher hitting Cook with his throw and Sipes scoring when the 1^st baseman couldn’t come up with it quickly enough. Alex Jefferson laid down a nice squeeze bunt to drive in James to make it 3-0.

The Maroons struck back in the bottom half with a walk and single, before another single brought both runners in. A Wildcat error put runners on second and third with one out, but Matthew James struck out the 4 and 5 hitters to get out of the jam. James set down six of the final seven hitters in the next two innings to close out the game.

03-19-11 v. Moline — Kyle Vaughn (Click on photo to see all photos in the set)

Kyle Vaughn pitched 4 1/3 innings to claim the victory, allowing two runs on three hits with two walks, a hit batter and three strikeouts. James got the save by going 2 2/3 innings and only allowing one hit batter and striking out three.

The Wildcats got an insurance run in the 7^th inning when Alex Jefferson singled to left field and scored on an Adam Seifert double over the left fielders head.

Adam McGinnis led the Wildcats with three hits.

The Wildcats will see the Maroons again right away on Tuesday in their third game of the season.

May 30, 2010May 30, 2010

Minooka 5-29-2010 Varsity

5-29-2010 vs. Minooka Indians – Regional Championship

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
NCWHS Wildcats	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	7	3
Minooka Indians	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	4	5	1

Wildcats Fall 4-3 in Regional Championship

The Normal West Wildcats played with the lead for most of the game, but couldn’t quite close the door on the Minooka Indians. Minooka came up with two runs in the bottom of the 7^th inning to hand the Wildcats a gut-wrenching 4-3 loss, ending their season at 28-9. The Indians move on to the IWU sectional with a record of 30-7.

The Indians got out to a 1-0 lead in the 1^st when the leadoff hitter reached on an error, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on a double. Wildcat starter Alex Jefferson then settled in and got through the first two innings. The Wildcats took the lead in the 2nd inning when Jacob Birlingmaier legged out an infield chopper, Michael Collins walked, and both moved up on a wild pitch. Wes Sery doubled to left center to score both runners and scored himself on a seeing-eye ground ball past the second baseman by Erik Sipes. Sipes reached second on the play and moved up to third when Tyler Emmerson bunted for a base hit. The Wildcats, though, were hurt when both Emmerson and Sipes were thrown out on a double steal.

After the Indians got a leadoff double in the 3^rd inning, Adam Seifert came on to replace Jefferson on the mound. The Indians sacrificed the runner over and brought him home with a fly ball to left field to make the score 3-2. The score remained that way for the next three innings. The Wildcats got out of a tough first and third situation in the 4^th inning when the Indians tried to force a balk. Seifert stepped off and faked a throw to second that drew the runner on third off just enough to nail him for the third out.

The Wildcats threatened to extend their lead in each of the 4^th through 7^th innings, but could never push one across. In the 7^th, Seifert walked the leadoff batter and gave way to Tyler Emmerson. The Indians sacrifice the runner to second and then had a groundout to short before a two out double down the left field line tied the score. After a walk, an infield grounder was misplayed just far enough to allow the winning run to score.

Jefferson pitched two innings giving up two runs on two hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Seifert tossed four innings giving up one run on two hits and a walk with two strikeouts. Emmerson was the hard luck loser, pitching 2/3 of an inning with a run on a hit and a walk. Sophomore standout Josh Jiminez pitched the complete game for the Indians to raise his record to 11-0.

Seven Wildcats had a hit and Wes Sery batted in two runs to lead the way.

That wraps up the Wildcats season at 28-9. Seven seniors – Michael Collins, Brock Stewart, Jason Cullen, Jacob Birlingmaier, Tyler Emmerson, Brandon Brittin and Drew Filosa were the heart of the team this year and had a great season overall.