YATES CENTER — Yates Center High’s baseball team had little trouble scoring runs Monday.
Problem was, neither did Erie.
The visiting Red Devils won a pair of slug-fests Monday, outscoring Yates Center 14-11 and 18-10.
The first game was a wild back-and forth affair that saw the teams trade the lead four times over the first four innings.
Erie pulled ahead 10-7 before Yates Center plated three runs with two outs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the score. Kevin Brown had an RBI single, Blake Morrison scored on a passed ball, and Keegan Tadlock evened the score with a single to drive in Brown.
But Erie responded with four in the top of the seventh to take the lead for good.
Kaiden Rutherford hit a sacrifice fly for Yates Center in the bottom of the inning, but it wasn’t enough.
Evan McVey paced the Wildcat offense with a pair of singles. Adding one hit each were William Stackhouse, Rutherford, Jacob Meigs, Brown and Tadlock.
Rutherford, Morrison, Stackhouse and Meigs shared pitching duties. They combined to strike out 10 and allow eight hits. Control was an issue. The pitchers walked a collective 11 batters.
Morrison hit an RBI single and Meigs stole home to give Yates Center an early 2-0 lead in Game 2.
Erie tied the score in the next inning, but McVey’s RBI double was followed by a two-run triple from Rutherford to re-establish a 5-2 Wildcat advantage.
But that fell apart with Erie’s 10-run inning in the top of the fourth.
The Wildcats stayed within shouting distance with Morrison’s RBI single and Kage Beck’s steal of home in the fifth, to make it 14-7. Rutherford added a sacrifice fly in the sixth. Nolan Lampe chipped in with an RBI single in the seventh. Kage Damron had an RBI ground-out to cap the scoring.
McVey paced the Wildcat offense with two doubles and a single in four at-bats. Rutherford added a single and triple. Morrison and Brown singled twice. Lampe also had a single.
McVey, Meigs, Lampe and Braxtyn Rutherford pitched for Yates Center. Erie rapped out 18 hits, while the Wildcat pitchers struck out three batters.
