By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
It took Hayden's bats four full innings before they were able to put any runs on the board, but when the Wildcats got rolling, they didn't stop in a 4-3 road victory Friday against Centennial League rival Washburn Rural in the first game of a doubleheader.
Jackson Summers helped Hayden baseball rally for a 4-3 first-game win at Washburn Rural Friday. [File photo/TSN]
The second game was postponed with a 2-2 tie in the third inning due to lightning strikes near the area.
Washburn Rural tested the Wildcats on Friday evening. The Junior Blues had superb starting pitching from sophomore Sam Bettis, solid situational baseball from its offense and were dangerous when momentum was in Washburn Rural's favor.
But Hayden overcame a four-inning scoring drought and fought back when situations were tight.
"I liked how our kids stayed focused the whole game," Hayden coach Bill Arnold said. "We got some timely hits. (Washburn Rural) did make some mistakes, and we made ours. The thing I'm most proud of is that we didn't let one mistake become two or three mistakes."
Defensively, Hayden played a solid contest later in the first game. Starting senior pitcher Jackson Summers was the man on the mound that helped lead the Wildcats to victory.
Summers threw 107 pitches and faced a lot of adversity throughout his Game 1 performance. Summers was in many sticky situations in the seven innings he threw and a few bases-loaded jams. However, Summers trusted the defense behind him, stayed poised, and never let his confidence sink.
"My goal coming into today was to fill it up, let my defense work, and I did exactly that," Summers said. "You know, I started to fall behind a little bit, but they stayed behind me and kept me confident. I wasn't looking for strikeouts sometimes. I was just trying to hit some spots, maybe get some weak contact, and luckily (Washburn Rural) didn't have any big innings."
Washburn Rural scored the game's first run in the bottom of the second inning. Senior Hayden Fox hit a deep sacrifice fly into left field, bringing senior Aiden Rea home.
Fox would impact the game again in the bottom of the fourth. Fox laid down a well-placed sacrifice bunt with junior Kaeden Fenton on first base. After an error by Hayden's defense on the bunt, Fenton's speed got him from first to third, and he was in an excellent position to score.
With Fox's well-executed bunt putting Washburn Rural in a stellar position, Fenton would score on a passed ball in junior Branton DeWeese's at-bat to give the Junior Blues a 2-0 lead.
Hayden would snap its offensive woes in the top of the fifth. With the bases loaded, senior Konnor Becker cranked a game-tying double, scoring two runs for the Wildcats.
"We hit a bit of a (slump), and I didn't think we had good plate approaches at all in innings one through four," Arnold said. "Credit to (Sam Bettis); he was throwing well and mixed his pitches up. I'd like to carry the (good) offense for seven innings."
Becker would also make an impressive defensive play in the bottom of the inning. Becker threw out a bolting Junior Blue runner at home plate from right field.
Although Becker's defensive play was crucial, the Junior Blues did get a run to break the 2-2 tie from a sacrifice bunt from DeWeese and a miscue from Hayden's infield to give Washburn Rural a 3-2 lead.
The rhythm from the top of the fifth inning segued into the sixth for Hayden's offense. Sophomore Liam Annand tied the contest 3-3 with a ground-rule double that went over the fence in left-centerfield.
"I think Liam Annand did a great job," Summers said. "He really sparked our offense hitting that double. Konnor (Becker) came through earlier with the runners on and didn't let the moment phase him."
Later in the top of the sixth inning, Washburn Rural committed an error with a flyball passed first base from junior Evan Lenherr that was high in the sky. The Junior Blues' mistake cost them a run, and Hayden would take the 4-3 lead.
Summers would pitch the sixth inning and reach the pitch count limit with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Senior Dylan Foster would get the last out and helped lead the Wildcats to a win.
"I thought Jackson (Summers) did well of composing himself on the mound," Arnold said. "He was strong. His arm felt good. He was upset I had to take him out, and I was like, 'Come on, you know what the rules are and stuff.' I was proud of him, and I thought he played really hard."
The matchup was closely contested for the three innings of baseball played in Game 2.
The Wildcats opened the game with a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. After Becker scored on a Washburn Rural wild pitch, Foster added the second run from an RBI single.
The Junior Blues didn't take long to make some noise offensively. After a triple from junior Kyle Walker, senior Ty Weber launched the baseball over the fence. Weber's two-run home run tied the game at 2-2.
After Hayden sophomore pitcher Cooper Grace took a couple of bumps in the bottom of the first inning, the standout starter began to roll.
After Weber's home run, Grace fanned five Rural batters. Then, in Grace's short but dominant roll before the game was called off, the sophomore struck out four consecutive batters.
"He's been doing really well," Arnold said. "He's throwing the ball hard. We have to make plays. We shouldn't have given up anything. We weren't aligned correctly in the outfield."
The game was postponed in the top of the third inning and will be played at a later date.
GAME ONE
HAYDEN 4, WASHBURN RURAL 3
Hayden 000 022 0 – 4 6 3
Washburn Rural 010 110 0 – 3 7 2
W – Summers. L – S. Bettis. 2B – Hayden: Annand, Becker. Washburn Rural: Weber.
GAME TWO
(POSTPONED)
WASHBURN RURAL 2, HAYDEN 2
Washburn Rural 200 – 2 3 1
Hayden 200 – 2 3 0
3B – Washburn Rural: Walker. HR – Washburn Rural: Weber.
