Vikes, ‘Cats go
down, win streak reaches 12
Wood River sets
sights on Buhl
Doubleheader
sweeps over Filer and Middleton last week made it 12 consecutive wins for
the Wood River High School baseball team (16-4, 4-0 league).
Tyler
Corrock, Wood River senior infielder, picks up a grounder and throws
out a Middleton runner during Saturday’s Founders Field doubleheader won
by the Wolverines. Express photo by David N. Seelig
That ties
the school record, and the Wolverines sought to break through Tuesday
afternoon with another Sawtooth Central Idaho Conference home game against
Kimberly (5-12, 0-4) in Hailey.
Streaking
Wood River (8-0 home) tangles with its chief rival, Buhl (11-5, 4-1), on
Saturday, May 4 for an 11 a.m. twinbill on the Tribe’s diamond. The
Wolverines end their regular-season slate with non-league home games
against Wendell Tuesday.
Last week’s
results were 10-9 and 18-8 victories over Filer along with 14-1 and 17-6
five-inning run-rule wins over the Middleton Vikings.
Pitching
star last week was senior righthander Matt Beck (7-1). He hung tough and
earned the league win in relief Thursday when Wood River survived an upset
bid to prevail 10-9 over Filer. But Beck needed a bang-bang relay play to
beat the ‘Cats.
Thrilling finish
against Filer
With
fireballer Ryne Reynoso on the hill, it looked like a laugher when Wood
River built a 9-0 second-inning cushion against Filer (6-11, 1-4).
Hailey sent
up 13 batters in its seven-run second, capitalizing on three ‘Cat
errors, two hit batsmen and five hits. Filer started getting to Reynoso
with two runs in the third and three in the fourth.
Reynoso (2
hits) took an early shower after getting hit by a pitch and Beck replaced
him. Fortunately Wood River tacked on a single run in the home fifth for a
10-5 lead when Tyler Corrock (2 doubles) cracked a leadoff double and
scored on an RBI single off the bat of Matt Conover (2 hits).
That’s
the only run Wood River scored off Filer pitcher Skyler Collins in its
final four trips, and it proved the winner.
Filer,
out-hitting Wood River 11-9, battled back and made it 10-9 in the seventh
when Mike Woody ripped a two-run triple. But Woody, the tying run, was
gunned down at the plate for the final out on an excellent relay from Joe
Molyneux to Conover to catcher Kellen Chatterton.
Wood River
steadied itself with an 18-8 run-rule win in the nightcap as Dylan
McIlhenny (1-0) earned his first varsity win in relief of Joe Paisley.
Paul Tinker (4-for-4, 3 runs) belted three doubles.
Shortstop
Corrock (2 doubles, 4 RBI), the leading Wolverine hitter with a .444
average out of the nine-spot, ended the game with a walk-off three-run
double.
Molyneux
scored three runs, third baseman Evan Peebles added two hits, Nic
Nottingham lofted a pair of sacrifice flies and Chatterton contributed a
double and triple to the 13-hit Wolverine attack.
On
Saturday, Middleton was a generous visitor to Founders Field—committing
nine errors and handing out 17 free passes during the doubleheader.
Beck tossed
a six-hitter and kept the ball in the infield during the 14-1 opener. A
two-run single by Reynoso (2 hits, 2 runs) keyed a six-run second and a
two-run single by Paisley sparked a seven-run fourth.
Tinker and
Corrock chipped in two hits apiece and Chatterton drew three walks.
Righthander
Jeff Hunter (4-1) collected the win in the nightcap, as Wood River broke a
4-4 tie by sending up 16 batters in a 10-run second.
The big
hits were an RBI triple by Reynoso (2 hits, 3 runs), an RBI double by
Chatterton (2 hits, 3 runs) and a two-run double off the bat of Molyneux
(4 RBI). Paisley added two hits and Conover (2 runs) delivered a double.
· WOOD
RIVER NOTES—During its 12-game win streak Wood River has outscored
opponents 142-55. That compares favorably with the 12-game winning streak
of the 2000 Wolverine squad (132 to 36) that started 18-4 en route to a
21-7 campaign….For the season the Wolverines have scored 174 runs (8.7)
and allowed 100 (5.0).
Team
batting average through 20 games is .291. Nottingham is the big cruncher
with 4 HR and 21 RBI….Staff ERA is 3.86 topped by Beck (2.19 in 48
innings, 5 complete games) and Reynoso (3.36 with a 31-9 strikeout-to-walk
ratio in 33 innings of work).