TUESDAY, April 25, 2023
YATES CENTER HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
YATES CENTER – The Yates Center High School baseball team picked up a much-needed victory in the opening game of their twinbill against the Oswego Indians here Monday evening.
Yates Center came out in the first game and posted a 10-4 victory. Oswego rebounded to win the nightcap 28-16 in a high-scoring affair.
No other details of Monday’s doubleheader were made available by press time.
The Wildcats were pleased to get a split Monday after dropping all four games in a pair of doubleheaders – one varsity and one junior varsity – played last week.
Last Wednesday, YCHS fell to Southeast-Cherokee by scores of 17-2 and 16-4. In junior varsity action the following day, Eureka swept the Wildcats 12-2 and 10-5.
The Wildcats are scheduled to host Uniontown on Thursday, April 27, for another doubleheader.
YCHS vs. Southeast
Last Wednesday was a make-up of action postponed back on April 10. Play resumed in the second inning of Game 1, with Southeast leading 2-0. The Lancers exploded for six more runs in the top of the second and coasted to the 17-2 victory.
The Wildcats managed just three hits in the opener, singles by Canon Cavender and Emmett Brittain and a triple by Jayston Rice. Cavender and Rice plated the runs for YC.
Yates Center stayed close for a while in the nightcap. Southeast led just 7-3 after four innings, but the Lancers scored four runs in the fifth inning and added five more in the seventh to pull away and win 16-4.
Brittain and Tristan Ballin each notched two hits in a losing cause, while the ’Cats also got safeties from Jacob Meigs, William Stackhouse, Emmit George and Rice.
Logan plated four runs, Jameson pounded out four hits, and Renn knocked in four RBI for Southeast.
“We had tough couple games against Southeast-Cherokee,” noted Yates Center head coach Jarrod McVey. “Errors and walks hurt us in both games. In Game 2 we battled through four innings and trailed 7-3, but again errors let the game get out of hand and our plate discipline has to be better if we want to have more success offensively.
“But our season is far from over and we will continue to clean up the errors and be more efficient on the mound,” McVey added
YCHS vs. Eureka (JV)
On Thursday, the Eureka and Yates Center played a pair of five-inning junior varsity games, with the Tornadoes winning 12-2 and 10-5.
In the opener, Eureka rapped out 10 hits and scored three runs in each of the first four innings to post the double-digit victory. Yates Center only managed three total hits, singles by Stackhouse, Blake Morrison and Kage Beck. Beck (a freshman from Altoona-Midway) and Kevin Brown scored runs for the Wildcats.
Yates Center put up a better battle in Game 2. The ‘Cats rallied for three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to pull within 9-5 but could get no closer.
Beck enjoyed a great game at the plate, ripping out three hits in plate appearances.
Stackhouse, Brown, Morrison and Ballin added the other hits for Yates Center.
“We couldn't get much going in Game 1, but Game 2 we played better and battled with the Tornadoes,” McVey said. "It was great to get the underclassmen some much needed experience. They have been working hard and I was very pleased to see all of them making great progress from the start of the season. We will continue work hard to get better fundamentally.
"I hope to schedule more JV games in the future as they are essential in developing players and programs," McVey added.