Wildcat Baseball Plays Small Ball and Tops Millionaires
By Joe Walker
MILL HALL – Just one day before the Central Mountain Wildcat baseball team got into a 21-13 high scoring win and game with Loyalsock, then Thursday afternoon it was a game of small ball, as hits were limited. But, the Wildcats manufactured three runs in the first two innings and made them standup to come away with a 3-2 Heartland Conference win over the visiting Millionaires of Williamsport.
The Wildcats took a 2–0 lead in the bottom of the first inning without a hit, as their first two batters Gardy Fravel and Connor Foltz both reached base after being hit by pitches. Each runner advanced one base after a wild pitch and then Fravel scored on a ground out by Elek Fravel. Malaky Moyd then hit an infield grounder that the Millionaires threw wild at first base and went out of play, allowing Foltz to score the second run.
The Wildcats then went up 3-0 in the bottom of the second inning, as Jase Seltzer drew a leadoff walk and then stole second, the throw to second was wild and got into the outfield, allowing Seltzer to advance to third. Isaiah Maldonado then drilled a Sac fly ball to leftfield, allowing Seltzer to tag up and beat the throw home.
The Millionaires were finally able to get on the scoreboard in the top half of the fifth inning, as they tallied a pair of runs to close to 3-2. Tarig Moore leadoff with a double, moved to third when Caden Helmrich reached on a Wildcat error. The Wildcats tried to throw out Helmrich trying to steal second, but the throw was high and it allowed Moore to score. Helmrich later moved to third and then scored on an infield groundout by Christian Franzen.
The Wildcats threatened again in the fifth inning, as they loaded the bases with two outs, but Millionaire reliever Wyatt Bair came in and kept the Wildcats from scoring. Bair relieved starter Cole Dietrich who went 4 ⅔ innings allowing three unearned runs on just two hits, while walking two, fanned five batters and hit two with pitches. Bair surrendered the Wildcats third hit of the game.
Senior starter Kevin Grenninger got the win on the mound, as he pitched a great game for the Wildcats. He went 6 ⅓ innings, allowing just four hits, fanning five and walking just one batter. Grenninger hit the pitch limit in the top half of the seventh inning, so sophomore Austin Frank came on and retired both batters he faced for the save and locked down the 3-2 win for the Wildcats.
Junior Malaky Moyd had two of the Wildcats three hits and reached base a third time on a Millionaire throwing error. Sophomore Blake Walker added a single to account for the Wildcats trio of hits. It was the small ball and manufacturing the three runs on no hits that was the difference in the game.
“The offense was held in check hit wise tonight, but it was nice to be able to play small ball and manufacture the three runs. We were able to create three runs without getting a hit. We were able to take advantage of the two hit batters in the first inning, as we were able to move those runners around and score them on the ground outs. Then we were able to get a runner in scoring position and score him on a sacrifice fly, which turned out to be the difference in the game”. Commented Head Coach Mike Kramer after the win.
“Kevin (Grenninger) is a bulldog when he is on the mound. He knew he only had two pitches left heading into the seventh inning, but he wanted to finish his limit and he did get the first out of the inning. Austin (Frank) came in and got the final two outs to close it. It feels really good to have a guy with his ability and the maturity for such a young pitcher to come in like that and throw strikes with confidence. The only reason he didn’t start the inning was that Kevin really fought to go out for those final two pitches and we felt that he earned it with the game he pitched.” added Kramer.
The Wildcats move to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the Heartland Conference, while Williamsport falls to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in the Heartland Conference. The Wildcats are back in action on Friday afternoon when they will host the Indians of Shamokin in another Heartland Conference game.
