Normal West Baseball

4-12-2011 vs. Morton Potters

Wildcats Handle the Potters

The Normal West Wildcats rode the hot bats of Alex Jefferson and Adam McGinnis to a 13-3 victory over the Morton Potters in Morton on Tuesday.  Another lovely spring day seemed to provide a spark to the offense, which rapped out seventeen hits including four for Jefferson and three for McGinnis.  The Wildcats improve to 10-4 on the season as the Potters fall to 6-4.

Alex Jefferson got the Wildcats started with a line drive single to center in the 1^st inning.  Kyle Vaughn moved him along with a single as well.  Jefferson scored when Morton threw wildly attempting a double play later in the inning on a Wes Sery groundball.  Sery moved to second on the play as well.  Erik Sipes then singled to left to drive him home.  In the 2^nd, Matthew James smashed one off of the second baseman and then stole second base.  He moved up on a wild pitch strikeout and scored on a Morton infield error.

Jefferson mashed a two out homer to left in the 4^th inning to give the Wildcats a 4-0 lead.  In the 5^th, the Wildcats broke loose for six runs.  Adam McGinnis led off with an infield single and Wes Sery lined one to left for a hit.  Adam Seifert walked to load the bases and Matthew James drove in a run with a walk.  Ryan Speller then drove a sacrifice fly to center to score Sery.  Jacob Davis then double to right center to score Seifert and Jefferson brought home two more with a double off the left center fence.  Kyle Vaughn finished the barrage by singled Jefferson home.

In the 6^th, James walked followed by a Speller single.  After Nolan Caldwell moved them up with a ground ball, Jefferson brought in James with a bunt single.  In the 7^th, Adam McGinnis led off with a solo blast to left.  Wes Sery then walked, but was forced on a nice play by the Morton third basemen on a laser by Erik Sipes.  Adam Seifert singled to put runners on the corners and Sipes scored on a James grounder.

Jefferson led the Wildcats with four hits while McGinnis had three and Vaughn and Sipes had two.  All nine starters got at least one hit for the Wildcats.  Jefferson had four runs batted in and James had two.

Kyle Vaughn picked up the win for the Wildcats on the mound, moving his record to 3-0.  Vaughn pitched five innings, allowing three runs on eight hits with no walks, a hit batter and a strikeout.  Nick Barnhill finished up for the Wildcats, going two innings and only giving up one walk and getting two strikeouts.

The Wildcats return to action Friday against the University High Pioneers at ISU field.  Writer’s note, the pie at Busy Corner in Goodfield was exceptionally good, as usual.

4-9-2011 vs. O’Fallon Panthers

Wildcats Fall to the Panthers

The Normal West Wildcats faced a state ranked opponent for the second day in a row, but couldn’t get the win against O’Fallon on a beautiful day for a ballgame.  Sunswept Jack Horenberger Stadium at IWU was the site for a matchup of perennially strong programs.   The Panthers came into the game with a 9-1 record and a no. 8 ranking in Prep Baseball Report.  The Wildcats brought a 9-3 record and a 11-0 victory the day before over Chatham Glenwood.  The Panthers came out on top with a 5-2 win that moves the Wildcats record back to 9-4.

Dustin Detweiler silenced the Panthers bats on the first trip through the order, retiring the first nine batters he faced, including striking out the meat of the order in the 2^nd inning.  The Panthers broke loose in the 4^th, tallying a run on a double and a single and then in the 5^th on another double and RBI single.  Detweiler was the hard luck loser against a very strong Panther offense, going five innings and giving up two runs on four hits with no walks and five strikeouts.  Kyle Vaughn pitched the 6^th inning and Adam Seifert the 7^th.

Panther lefty Matt Meadows had the Wildcats number as well, moving his record to 4-0, by going six innings and allowing two runs on four hits.  The Wildcats did break on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the 3^rd when Erik Sipes tripled to right to lead off the inning.  Ryan Speller drove him in with an infield ground out.  The Wildcats other run came on an Alex Jefferson blast over the left field fence in the 6^th inning.  Kyle Vaughn and Erik Sipes led the Wildcats with two hits each.

In the junior varsity game, the Wildcats won 8-6.

The Wildcats return to action Tuesday at Morton against the Potters.