YATES CENTER — After losing its previous four games by an average of 17 runs a contest, Yates Center High’s baseball team was in need of a pick-me-up.
The Wildcat pitching staff did just that Monday, shutting down visiting St. Paul to sweep the teams’ doubleheader, 12-2 and 12-5.
“It felt good to get the boys out there and get some positivity after a couple of tough doubleheaders,” Wildcat head coach Jarrod McVey said. “And it started with our pitching.”
Wildcat hurlers Blake Morrison and William Stackhouse combined on a five-hitter in the opener, and perhaps more importantly, surrendered a total of just two walks, compared to nine strikeouts.
Evan McVey, Tristan Ballin and Jason Meigs continued the trend in Monday’s nightcap, combining to allow seven hits and striking out 12.
“Blake set the tone,” Coach McVey said. “And it was William’s first outing out there, and he did a good job. I look forward to getting him some more mound time.”
In both contests, the Wildcats took control early.
The Wildcats scored four in the first, three in the second, three in the third and two in the fourth to end the game once the spread reached 12 runs.
Stackhouse singled twice and drove in three, while Kaiden Rutherford had a triple and RBI. Evan McVey, Morrison and Ballin added singles.
Morrison got the start, and surrendered four hits and one earned run over three innings, striking out four. Stackhouse struck out five over two scoreless innings of relief work, allowing one hit.
The Wildcats racked up nine stolen bases, three from Evan McVey, two each from Stackhouse and Kage Beck and one apiece from Morrison and Meigs.
“The guys are doing a good job on the bases of being really conscious of reading pitches, working and being aggressive,” McVey said. “We have some good speed. It’ll pay off as the season goes along.”
THE WILDCATS erupted for six runs in the nightcap to take control, sparked by RBI singles from Meigs and Morrison and a two-run single from Garrison Brittain.
McVey was dominant from the start, shutting out St. Paul over the first 3.1 innings with three strikeouts, but was pulled from the game, Coach McVey noted, to keep his pitch count low.
“If we didn’t have to worry about Thursday, it would have been a different story,” Coach McVey said.
