Author: Chris Seifert

5-25-2011 vs. Bradley Bourbonnais Raiders

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Bradley Raiders	0	0	0	0	0	X	X	0	4	2
NCWHS Wildcats	4	2	2	0	X	X	X	8	7	1

 

Wildcats Open Regional with Win

The Normal West Wildcats opened State Regional play with an 8-0 win over Bradley Bourbonnais at West Varsity Field.  With an impending storm coming in, the Wildcats got off to a fast start on a Trey Rogers 1^st inning home run and cruised to a weather-shortened five inning victory.  The win ups the Wildcats record to 29-7 and advances them to the Regional Championship on Saturday.

 In the 1^st, Kyle Vaughn led off with a walk before Alex Jefferson sacrificed him to second and he moved to third on an infield out.  Adam McGinnis got him by a pitch and stole second to set the stage for Adam Seifert to drive in the first run of the game with a single to right.  Trey Rogers followed that with a long home run, just to the right of the scoreboard to make it 4-0. 

In the 2^nd, Vaughn got a one out infield single, stole second, and moved to third on a passed ball.  With two outs, Wes Sery walked and when he stole second, Vaughn scored as the catchers couldn’t hold on to the return throw.  Sery then scored on Adam McGinnis’ triple over the rightfielder.  In the 3^rd, the Wildcats tacked on two more Trey Rogers singled to left and Matthew James doubled over the rightfielder to driver in Rogers.   After Erik Sipes sacrificed him to third, a balk brought him home for the final run of the game.

Rogers and James led the Wildcats with two hits while Rogers drove in three runs.

Matthew James was in control on the mound, picking up his seventh win of the season.   He started and went four innings, allowing no runs on three hits, with 3 strikeouts.  Dustin Detweiler pitched the fifth with a hit, a walk and a strikeout.

The Wildcats will face crosstown rival Normal Community in the Regional Championship on Saturday at 10:00

5-23-2011 vs. Edwardsville Tigers

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NCWHS Wildcats	0	5	1	4	6	X	X	16	17	1
Edwardsville Tigers	0	1	2	0	0	X	X	3	5	3

 

Wildcats Tune Up on the Tigers 16 – 3

The Normal West Wildcats added a late game to the schedule to tune up for regional play.  The bats got a good tune up on Edwardsville pitching as they slugged 17 hits in a 16-3 five inning game at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield.  Wes Sery and Erik Sipes were particularly potent with three hits each and Sery’s three doubles broke a school record for doubles in a season with 20.  The win ended the Wildcats regular season at 28-7.

Three Wildcat pitchers got a light workout to prepare for postseason.  Adam Seifert started on the mound and went two innings to pick up his seventh win on the season.  He pitched two innings, giving up a run on two hits and a walk and three strikeouts.  Nick Barnhill followed him to the mound, going two innings and allowing two unearned runs on three hits, a walk, a hit batter and striking out one.  Dustin Detweiler closed the game out in the 5^th with a perfect inning, including two strikeouts.

After a scoreless first, the Wildcats batted around in the 2^nd.  Trey Rogers got things started by getting on base on an infield error before Matthew James singled up the middle.  Rogers and James stole a base to move up before Erik Sipes walked to load the bases.  Ryan Speller then worked a long at bat into a walk to bring home Rogers.  Kyle Vaughn singled over the second baseman to drive in two before Wes Sery’s second double of the game scored two more to make it 5-0.

Matthew James tripled over the centerfielder to get things going in the 3^rd inning and Sipes followed with a single down the line to drive him in.  In the 4^th, Alex Jefferson opened with a single before stealing second base and scoring on two wild pitches.  Adam McGinnis walked and moved to third on an Adam Seifert single to right that was misplayed by the rightfielder.  Seifert stole second and both scored on a James single to right.  After James stole second, Sipes singled for his second hit of the game, driving in James to up the lead to 10-3.

The Wildcats put the game away in the 5^th when Vaughn singled and moved up on a wild pitch.  Jefferson singled to put two men on before Sery hit a bomb off the deep right center fence to score Vaughn.  McGinnis’ infield grounder scored Jefferson when the ball came out of the first baseman’s glove.  Seifert drove in Sery with a sacrifice fly to center before Rogers got hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second.  James walked to load the bases before Sipes got his third hit of the day, a double that drove in McGinnis and Rogers.  Garrett Cook then singled off the diving third baseman’s glove to score James and make it 16-3.

Sery, James and Sipes all had three hits to lead the Wildcats while Vaughn and Jefferson had two.  Sipes drove in four runs, with Sery knocking in three and James two.

The Wildcats start regional tournament play on Wednesday at home against Bradley Bourbonnais in the regional semi-final.