The REPORTER
The Westfield baseball team played two games on Friday at the Donny Everett Classic at Clarksville, Tenn. One turned into complete domination and the nightcap wound up being a heartbreaker for the Shamrocks’ first loss of the season.
Westfield 12, Whetstone (OH) 0 (5 innings)
It only took five innings and scoring in bunches for Westfield to defeat the Whetstone Braves from Columbus, Ohio, 12-0.
Westfield kept their offense going in its first of two games Friday. Matt Drozlek drove in Brayden Hibler for the early 1-0 lead.
Starting with Ethan Colling’s double after Alex Rudolph walked, the Shamrocks scored five runs in the inning. Consecutive singles from Tyler Gentry and Gabe Garcia helped push the margin to 3-0. A couple of Whetstone errors contributed to the score being 6-0 through two.
Drew Law made it 8-0 on a two-run triple that scored Lincoln Hoffman and Caden Lindsey in the third.
Gentry hit a sacrifice fly for a 9-0 in the top of the fourth.
After singling to start the fifth, Law raced home on a wild pitch. Jake Russell’s two-run single scored Beck Jordan and Hibler for the final of 12-0 in five innings.
Jackson Blevins got the win on the mound, throwing two innings with a pair of strikeouts and allowed the only Whetstone hit.
Drew Law led at the plate with a 2-of-4 performance with two RBIs. Russell would join him with two RBIs.
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Clarksville Academy (TN) 1, Westfield 0
The second game of the day was a pitcher’s duel against a tough squad from Clarksville.
There would be just seven hits combined between the two, but unfortunately for Westfield, it came down to the bottom of the seventh in a scoreless affair for the Cougars to secure the win on their own field.
Owen Swinford threw four and two-thirds innings of one-hit baseball with 12 punchouts and walked four. Law worked one and one-third innings with three strikeouts but suffered the loss on the mound.
Brayden Hibler (2), Beck Jordan and Rudolph accounted for the four hits for the Shamrocks.
Colton Wallace worked a complete game for Clarksville Academy, fanning 11 Westfield hitters, giving up just four hits, while not walking any ‘Rocks.
Westfield (5-1) will play its final game in Tennessee today at 2 p.m. against the Henry County Patriots (11-2) from Paris, Tenn.
Thursday game: Westfield 8, Beech (TN) 4
Thursday night’s opener for the Shamrocks at the Donny Everett Classic saw them play in Hendersonville to face the Beech Buccaneers. A final four-inning surge was what Westfield needed for an 8-4 win.
Tyler Gentry gave the Shamrocks a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth, doubling in Ian Wilson.
Two more crossed home in the fifth. Brayden Hibler doubled to score Caden Lindsey. Matt Drozlek scored Hibler to make it 4-1. Beech plated two and after five it was 4-3.
Drew Law doubled in two to push the lead back to three at 6-3. The Buccaneers added their final run in the bottom for 6-4.
Wilson put the exclamation on it with a two-run home run, finishing off Beech 8-4.
Ty Anderson threw four innings, striking out seven for the win. Hibler and Gentry both went 3-for-4, combining for two doubles and three RBIs. Lindsey and Wilson each had two hits.