WILLIAMSBURG — Jeremy Shope’s Whitley County Colonels punched their ticket into next week’s 13th Region Tournament after recording a 13-3 win over Williamsburg during Monday’s 50th District Tournament.
The Colonels (32-3) built a 6-0 lead after two innings of play before the Yellow Jackets (13-17) cut their deficit to 6-3 in the top of the sixth inning.
Whitley County put the game away with a seven-run bottom of the sixth inning to advantage to Tuesday’s 50th District title game.
Shope used four pitchers in the game, starting Mason Croley, who went 2 2/3 of an inning, allowing only one hit while striking out seven batters. Tyler Rose, Trey Walton, and Braydn Bargo combined to pitch the final 3 1/3 of an inning, allowing three hits, and three earned runs while striking out three batters.
“Good win for our team,” Shope said. “It’s a berth into the region tournament. We had several guys that had good offensive nights. We were able to throw several arms. We are blessed to play for a district championship tomorrow.”
Bryce Anderson came up big at the plate, going 3-for-4 with three RBI, two doubles, and two runs scored while Sam Harp was 3-for-3 with two RBI, and two runs scored. Croley turned in a 2-for-3 effort with two RBI, and one run scored while Matthew Wright had two hits, an RBI, and one run scored. Grant Zehr finished with a hit, an RBI, and two runs scored while RJ Osborne had a hit, an RBI, and a run scored. Shane Parker, and Andrew Stack each scored a run apiece.
Connor Faulkner had a hit, and an RBI for Williamsburg while Hayden Kleinert also drove in a run. Isaiah Sizemore finished with a hit, and scored once while Henry Bowling, and John Davis each finished with a hit. Drew Damron scored once in the loss.
“This one is a real tough one for several reasons,” Williamsburg coach Bryan Hopkins said. “I thought we play well at times just had a few errors to start and end the game that hurt us. We had several kids that I thought left everything they had on the field today. I’m proud of them and the fight they displayed. Time to get to work.”
