New Richmond – Over the past decade Wyoming East has dominated the rivalry on the diamond with county foe Westside.
After splitting the two regular season matchups last year, the Renegades were looking to duplicate that feat this season with a win Friday night at the War Zone.
The Wyoming East bats made sure that didn’t happen.
Exploding for 12 runs on 11 hits in the fourth inning, including a three-run home run from Caden Cook, the Warriors ran roughshod over the Renegades, 17-3 in five innings.
“We are not giving up as a team, but teams have been pouncing on us and getting runs in the fifth, sixth or seventh innings. We are playing close with teams, then all of a sudden, they start roping the ball on us,” Westside head coach Jeremy Warrix said.
Westside scored a run in the top of the fourth inning to cut the Wyoming East lead back to 5-2 before the fireworks commenced in the bottom of the frame.
Three straight singles loaded the bases for Hayden Blankenship who delivered a base hit that scored two runs and forced a pitching change.
Bryson Blankenship came on for the Renegades and recorded two quick outs bringing Cook to the plate.
The freshman hurler then worked the count to one ball and two strikes and appeared poised to escape the big inning.
A borderline two balls and two strikes pitch tipped the scales in favor of Cook.
“I think I might have gotten lucky with that call a little bit, but I am glad though that it worked out for me,” Cook said. “I was thinking at this point I might as well look fastball and just swing. He gave it to me.”
The only question about Cook’s blast was would the line shot clear the top of the raised fence. The ball sailed over with ease giving the Warriors a 10-2 lead.
While most everyone in attendance was convinced the ball was going out, Cook was not so sure since it was his first high school home run.
“I wasn’t used to doing that. I have been hitting like .180, so I thought I had hit it over the shortstop. I didn’t even think for a little bit that it was going to go out,” Cook said, laughing.
The blast seemed to ignite Wyoming East which collected six more hits in the inning including a bases-loaded triple from senior Tanner Whitten.
“That got everybody hyped and everybody was ready to go,” Cook said about his blast. “It was like it re-sparked something and they were all ready to hit and excited to hit. We got the younger guys involved too and they got some clutch hits.”
The game started promising for Westside with a 1-0 lead aided by a couple of errors from Wyoming East.
However, starting pitcher Garrett Mitchell seemed unphased and battled through the miscues to keep the game tight.
“It is always exciting, no matter what sport you play them in. It’s still Westside, so you just have to keep throwing,” Mitchell said. “There is nothing you can really do, but keep throwing. I knew we could hit though, so I figured we would still be fine.”
Mitchell had a pair of hits including a double, while Charlie Stewart also collected two hits and drove in two runs.
Fielding a young team, Warrix attributed his teams struggles and inconsistency mostly to youth this year.
“Just a few plays here or there in the first couple of innings and the game is 2-1 or 2-2. We make a lot of mistakes with base running and errors. I have like seven or eight freshman starting every night, but this team will not quit,” Warrix said. “We need to get deeper pitching and get some stronger arms, but I am proud of them. Our record is 3-13, but I don’t feel bad about it. We are learning and developing and that is the key.”
