WABASH – After winning their first baseball sectional title on Monday night, the Whitko Wildcats looked to resume their dream story Saturday afternoon in the same venue where they were crowned days before.
Standing in their way were the Wapahani Raiders, who are no strangers to state tournament success and were state champs in 2014. Whitko had to bring their ‘A’ game if they wanted to play again Saturday night.
Wapahani starting pitcher Alec Summers had no interest in that.
Summers fanned 11 and allowed only three hits in seven innings as Wapahani shut out the Wildcats 6-0 at Chris Rood Field in Wabash.
“I thought (Summers) was outstanding. We knew coming in he wasn’t going to walk very many guys,” said Whitko coach Erik Hisner. “We have to earn what we get, so we thought it was going to be a 2-1 or 3-2 type of game, but when they get six in the first two innings it puts you in a bad position. But [Summers] was outstanding.”
It was a rocky start for Whitko pitcher Drew Bradford, who allowed Wapahani’s first four runs on four hits in the opening inning. The Raiders opened things up with singles from leadoff hitter Tysen Lipscomb and then Stephen Vickery. Garrett Stanley plated the first two runners with a double. Chandler Wise brought in Stanley on a groundout and Summers scored after he was initially walked and then brought in by a two-out single from Isaiah Brosher.
In the second inning, the Raiders collected two more runs on four hits, but Bradford settled down and kept the Raiders scoreless in the final five innings.
“Any time you jump out early and have a big inning and get three or more runs, it’s going to change the whole impact of the game,” said Hisner. “It takes away some things you want to do offensively and it makes them a little more aggressive in what they want to do.”
The top half of the batting order for the Raiders looked impressive, as batters 1-4 were a collective 9 for 16 at the plate.
Offensively, the Cats collected hits from Bradford, Landen Goff and Bailey Platt.
Despite finishing the season 21-10 and sooner than they had wished, Hisner assured his players that there should be no reason to feel shame.
“I told them that there was nothing to hang their head about; they were the first team from Whitko to win a sectional championship. I’m proud of them for that and that’s something that no one can take away from them.”
Wapahani advanced to semistate after knocking off top-ranked Lafayette Central Catholic 6-4 in the regional championship game Saturday night.
