By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Wednesday was only Shawnee Heights' second baseball game of the 2023 season.
But depending on how the rest of the T-Birds' season plays out, Heights coach Ryan Schmidt and his team may look back and realize just how big Wednesday's 7-6 non-league win over Bishop Miege was from a confidence and postseason seeding standpoint.
Shawnee Heights junior Carter Ulrich went 2 for 3 with a pair of doubles and five runs batted in as the T-Birds rallied for a 7-6 non-league win over Bishop Miege Wednesday at the Bettis Family Sports Complex. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights junior Johann Villa pitched six innings of solid relief to pick up the win in Wednesday's 7-6 comeback win over Bishop Miege. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Shawnee Heights, which improved to 2-0, spotted Miege a 4-0 advantage in the top of the first and a 6-1 lead in the top of the third, but the T-Birds rode an outstanding relief effort from junior piitcher Johann Villa and clutch hitting from junior Carter Ulrich to a big comeback win at the Bettis Family Sports Complex.
"It couldn't be more of a team win, with the guys each doing their role,'' Schmidt said. "We just kept grinding through things and each guy was stepping up and picking each other up.''
Shawnee Heights only led once on the night, but that lead came on a two-run double from Ulrich in the bottom of the sixth and Villa shut the door on the Stags in the top of the seventh to close out the win.
Heights senior pitcher Nic Perez, one of the T-Birds' top returners, got off to rocky start Wednesday and faced only one batter in the second before giving way to Villa, a varsity newcomer.
Perez struck out the side in the opening inning, but issued four walks while also allowing two runs to score on an errant pickoff attempt and allowing another run to score on a wild pitch in Miege's four-run first.
"You look at his counts and he was up in every single count,'' Schmidt said. "He was 1-2, 0-2 and its just closing the deal, closing out those at-bats and he'll get there. We have confidence in him that he'll get there. He's been around, so he knows what to do.''
After walking the first batter he faced in the second, Perez left the game and Villa came on to pitch the final six innings, allowing two runs on two hits and striking out three.
After giving up two runs in the third, Villa blanked the Stags over the final four innings to pick up the pitching win.
"Johann came in there and was just dealing and having a good time out there,'' Schmidt said.
Shawnee Heights scored a run in the bottom of the first on an Ulrich sacrifice fly and after a scoreless second the T-Birds kept chipping away at the Miege lead, scoring a pair of runs in the third on Ulrich's first two-run double, single runs in the fourth and fifth and taking the lead with the two-run sixth, capped by Ulrich's second two-run double.
Ulrich went 2 for 3 on the night with five runs batted in.
Shawnee Heights will play its third game in as many nights at 5 p.m. Thursday at Bettis, with the T-Birds playing their second game of the year against Turner after taking a 15-0 win over the Bears on Tuesday.
Thursday's game was scheduled to be played at Turner, but the game was moved to Bettis due to field conditions in Kansas City, Kan.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 7, BISHOP MIEGE 6
Bishop Miege (0-1) 402 000 0 -- 6 3 1
Shawnee Heights (2-0) 102 112 x -- 7 5 1
Frey, Greene (4) and Meara. Perez, Villa (2) and Pomeroy. W -- Villa. L -- Greene. 2B -- Shawnee Heights: Ulrich 2.
