The Guntersville Wildcats baseball team brought their season to a close Friday night at home with one last win over the Arab Knights on a final score of 8-3.
“We hit the baseball tonight,” Wildcats head coach Kenny Chaffin said. “We had some good defense to back up our pitching. We had Jack Lenior start us off and then Ches Johnson come in later and they did a great job, I was proud of the effort and the execution tonight.”
The Wildcats shut the Knights down quickly in the first inning, with senior Cole Adkison catching the first out at first base followed by two strike outs from junior Jack Lenior. At the plate they were able to put runners on second and third, with junior catcher Street Smith bringing in the first run on a low hit to the mound. The Wildcats were able to bring in one more thanks to a right field double from senior Grady Whitaker, leaving the score at 2-0 at the end of the first inning.
With Lenior still on the mound the Knights loaded the bases, bringing in one run on a hit to left field that was caught out by sophomore Parker Nelson. Lenior was able to strike out the next batter, cutting the offensive drive short and keeping the lead in Wildcat hands.
After loading the bases, the Wildcats tacked on two more runs, first on an infield hit that tipped off the third baseman’s glove for a single and another on a grounder to second base. Trailing 4-1 the Knights would then put on their biggest offensive push of the night, loading the bases and forcing a change on the mound, bringing in junior Ches Johnson to pitch. The Knights managed to close the score to just 4-3, but with two outs on the board were shut down with a catch out in left field by Whitaker.
“Grady was hitting the ball well but he was making some really good plays for us,” Chaffin said. “He got some catches and made some big throws to first and in general was playing good all night.”
The Wildcats were hit with two outs early to in the bottom of the third but were able to get runners on second and third base. Sophomore Ben McCurdy brought in one run with a left field single, but a pop out to third base soon after left the Wildcats with just a two-run lead.
The fourth inning was over quickly for both teams, with Johnson walking his first batter before following up with two strike outs and an out at second thanks to Smith throwing down the runner who attempted a steal. The Wildcats similarly went three and out, rolling the game into the fifth inning where Arab again went three and out, with no runners making it on base.
“It can take Ches some time to get loose sometimes,” Chaffin said. “He came into a tough situation tonight for sure, but he settled down eventually and found his curveball, when he can spin that thing up there he can be really good.”
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