Normal West Baseball

5-8-2010 vs. O’Fallon Panthers

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
O’Fallon Panthers	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	4	7	2
NCWHS Wildcats	1	0	0	1	3	1	X	6	11	3

Wildcats Take Third Place in Tourney

The Normal West Wildcats didn’t get the tournament championship they wanted, but did get some consolation by beating the host O’Fallon Panthers 6-4 in the third place game.  The Wildcats came from behind with three runs in the bottom of the 5^th inning to take a 5-4 lead and held on from there to up their record to 21-6 overall. 

The Wildcats got on the board first with Michael Collins driving a single to left field ahead of a Brock Stewart double that scored him.  After getting down 3-1, the Wildcats clawed back in the 4^th inning when Adam Seifert, Kyle Vaughn and Michael Collins singled to score a run.  The Wildcats got three in the 5^th with some help from the Panthers.  Wes Sery singled to start the rally followed by a Trey Rogers single.  Alex Jefferson’s bunt was then thrown down the right field line, scoring Sery and sending the runners to second and third.  A wild pitch brought in Rogers easily and a second one resulted in a great leaping slide from Alex Jefferson to get under the tag and give the Wildcats the lead at 5-4.  The Wildcats tacked on an insurance run in the 7^th inning when Collins led off by getting hit, stealing second, and scoring on a Jason Cullen single.

Cullen started on the mound for the Wildcats and pitched the first four innings.  He gave up three runs, only two earned, on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts.  Adam Seifert relieved in the 5^th inning and got the win due the to the Wildcats rally.  He allowed one unearned run on two hits and two walks over his three innings of work.

Seifert, Sery and Collins led the Wildcats with two hits each, while Collins, Stewart and Cullen had the only runs batted in for the Wildcats.

The Wildcats return to action on Tuesday in a conference showdown at Howard Saar Field at 4:30 against second place Bloomington High School.

5-8-2010 vs. Harrisburg Bulldogs

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Harrisburg Bulldogs	0	0	0	2	0	1	1	4	6	0
NCWHS Wildcats	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	1

Wildcats Lose Tight One to Undefeated Harrisburg

The Normal West Wildcats had their opportunities to give Harrisburg their first loss of the season in the semifinals of the O’Fallon/Troy Triad Baseball Classic Saturday at Blazier Field in O’Fallon, but couldn’t quite pull it off.  The 4-2 loss for the Wildcats dropped the overall record to 20-6 and ended a 16 game winning streak while raising Harrisburg to 31-0.

The Wildcats took an early lead against Bulldog ace Reid Roper in the 1^st inning.  Michael Collins drew a one out walk and stole second base.  Brock Stewart singled off the first baseman’s glove to put runners on the corners before Jason Cullen got hit by a pitch.  Jacob Birlingmaier then got hit in the back as well to bring home Collins, but the Wildcats couldn’t capitalize with any more.  In the 2^nd inning, Tyler Emmerson singled off the pitcher and moved up on an Adam Seifert sacrifice bunt.  Kyle Vaughn lined to center field for a single, putting runners on the corners before a Collins walk loaded the bases.  Stewart then drove in Emmerson with a ground ball fielder’s choice to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.

Tyler Emmerson started on the mound for the Wildcats and got through the first three innings untouched, with the help of some excellent defense.  Wes Sery started two 5-4-3 double plays and a third force out at second on a great backhand play, as well as getting a force at third base to end an inning.  In the 4^th, after a double and a walk, the only error on the game hurt the Wildcats.  A sacrifice bunt was thrown into the right field corner, allowing both runners to score and the bunter to third base.  Emmerson, though, got a strike out, ground ball back to himself and pop up to limit further damage. 

In the 5^th inning, the Bulldogs threatened with a one-out walk and a single before Emmerson was lifted for Kyle Vaughn.  After walking the first batter, Vaughn got out of the bases loaded jam by inducing a ground ball to Sery for a force at the plate and a pop foul that he caught himself.  In the 6^th, though, a Cain Sheldon drive to the short right field fence just got over to put the Bulldogs up 3-2.  They tacked on one in the 7^th inning, before the Wildcats threatened in the bottom of the inning.  With one out, Collins got hit by a pitch and Brock Stewart hit one deep to left center that looked like it might go out, but landed at the fence for a double.  Unfortunately, Roper struck out the last two Wildcats to end the game.

Emmerson pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowed 2 unearned runs on four hits with four walks and two strikeouts.  Kyle Vaughn took the loss, giving up one run on one hit and two walks with a strikeout in his 1 1/3 innings.  Erik Sipes finished for the Wildcats, going 1 1/3 innings with a run on one hit and two walks. 

Stewart led the Wildcats with two hits, including a double, while he and Birlingmaier drove in runs.

The Wildcats will face O’Fallon in the third place game later today.

5-7-2010 vs. Urbana Tigers

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
NCWHS Wildcats	3	5	3	0	0	0	4	15	14	1
Urbana Tigers	0	0	0	2	0	1	1	4	4	5

Wildcats Blow Away Tigers

Playing both a Big 12 Conference game and a first round game in the O’Fallon/Troy Triad Baseball Classic, the Normal West Wildcats jumped top early on another howling windy day to beat the Urbana Tigers 15-4.  The Wildcats scored eleven runs in the first three innings and never were threatened in improving the conference record to 8-0.  The overall record moved to 20-5 after their 16^th win in a row. 

 

Kyle Vaughn started on the mound and pitched three almost perfect innings, only allowing a two-out single in the 3^rd.  Kyle struck out three to get the win.  Freshmen Alex Jefferson worked two innings, giving up two runs on a hit and two walks with two strikeouts.  Sophomore Ryan Speller made his varsity debut, going an inning with one run on one hit and one walk, while Brandon Brittin finished up the 7^th inning with one run on one hit and a walk and a strikeout.

Wilcat bats got thing going early.  Kyle Vaughn led off the 1^st inning with a single and moved up on a Michael Collins sacrifice bunt and wild pitch.  Brock Stewart walked and stole second base before Jason Cullen drove them both in with a single.  He came around to score on a misplayed popup.  In the 2^nd, Wes Sery led off with a double to left center and moved to third on a Tyler Emmerson infield single.  After Emmerson stole second, and Adam Seifert ground ball fielder’s choice scored Sery.  Seifert moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a Vaughn single to right.  Stewart then walked and Cullen hit a towering three-run homer to left field.

In the 3^rd inning, Sery led off with a single and Emmerson and Vaughn walked to load the bases.  Collins drove in a run with a fielder’s choice and then Stewart did the same and Vaughn scored on a wild pitch.  In the 7^th inning, Collins led off with a single before Stewart walked and Cullen singled to load the bases.  Jacob Birlingmaier’s triple to left center cleared the bases and he scored on a Trey Rogers ground out.

Cullen led the Wildcats with 4 hits, while Vaughn had three and Sery two.  Cullen had five runs batted in and Birlingmaier had three.

The Wildcats will play undefeated Harrisburg in the semi-finals at Blazier Field in O’Fallon tomorrow.