Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

WHITEOAK — The was good news and bad news.

The good news began with a 9-6 win over the Whiteoak Wildcats and the bad news was a 5-4 loss to the Trimble Tomcats.

But on the good news side again, the split still gave the St. Joseph Flyers the runner-up trophy Saturday the Whiteoak Wildcats Wood Bat Classic.

Hunter Pemberton picked up a complete game win in the first game and also went 3-4 at the plate. The Flyers had 11 hits with Cole Willis going 2-4 with a triple and Jacob Clark 2-4.

“It was much better on the offensive side. We had four errors, but they really didn’t hurt us that much,” said Flyers’ coach Brent Wirzfeld. “And Hunter pitched a good game. He changes speeds really well.”

Whiteoak took a 2-0 lead in the first inning but the Flyers rallied to take a 3-2 lead in the third.

Pemberton singled, stole and third bases and Joseph Payton had an RBI single. Payton stole second, went to third on a ground out and Bryson Adkins hit a sacrifice fly.

Alexander Ward walked, went to second a wild pickoff throw and Seth Kelley had an RBI single.

The lead went to 6-2 in the fourth.

Trey Neal singled and went to second on a bad return throw from the outfield. Jacob Clark beat out a bunt single and Pemberton reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases.

Payton hit a sacrifice fly and Cole Willis followed with a two-run triple.

Whiteoak got a run in the fourth, but the Flyers got the run back in the fifth.

Neal reached on an error, Clark singled and a throwing error score put runners on the corners. A bad throw attempting to get Neal at third base allowed him to score.

The Wildcats got three runs in the bottom of the inning to make it 7-6, but the Flyers got two insurance runs in the sixth.

Pemberton singled, stole second and third, and Willis had a run-scoring hit. Willis stole second and came home on a hit by Adkins.

In the championship game, Trimble rallied to edge the Flyers 5-4.

The Flyers (2-5) scored all their runs in the first inning.

Pemberton singled, Payton walked and they pulled off a double steal. Willis singled in a run and then stole second. Adkins was safe on an error as Payton scored and Kelley had a two-run single.

Trimble came back to tie the game with singe runs in the second and third innings and two runs in the fourth. They got the winning run on a balk in the sixth.

“We took too many pitches and struck out too many times, and we still had too many errors,” said Wirzfeld.

Pemberton and Willis were named to the all-tournament team. Pemberton went 5-8 on the day and Willis was 3-7 with a triple and four RBIs.

Semifinal Game

St. Joseph 003 312 0 = 9 11 4

Whiteoak 200 130 0 = 6 7 7

Hunter Pemberton and Zack McGraw. Stephen Anderson and Young. W-Pemberton (K-9, BB-2, ER-1). L-Anderson. Hitting-SJ: Hunter Pemberton 3-4, Joseph Payton 1-2, Cole Willis 2-4, Bryson Adkins 1-3, Seth Kelley 1-4, Trey Neal 1-4, Jacob Clark 2-4; Whiteoak: Spencer Michael 1-4, Tyler Williams 1-4, Jason Jones 2-4, Steven Meyers 1-3, Stephen Anderson 1-3, Jacob Burns 1-3. 2B-WO: Tyler Williams, Spencer Michael. 3B-SJ: Cole Willis.

Championship Game

St. Joseph 400 000 0 = 4 5 5

Trimble 011 201 x = 5 6 5

Joseph Payton, Hunter Pemberton (6) and Joey Bush. Dante Brammer, Jake Kish (7) and Caullin Lunsford. W-Brammer (IP-6, H-5, R-4, ER-1, BB-1, K-6). Save-Kish (IP-1, K-2, BB-0, R-0). L-Pemberton (IP-1, R-1, H-1, BB-1, K-0). Payton (IP-5, R-4, ER-1, H-4, K-1, BB-1). Hitting-SJ: Hunter Pemberton 2-4, Cole Willis 1-3, Seth Kelley 1-3, Jacob Clark 1-3; Trimble: Austin Downs 1-3, Dante Brammer 1-3, Caullin Lunsford 1-3, Jake Kish 2-3, Justice Jenkins 1-3. 2B-Trimble: Justice Jenkins.