Wolfpack Beats PG 6-2, Heads to District Tournament
YOUNGWOOD, Pa. - After falling behind 2-0 in the first inning, the Westmoreland County Community College baseball team used a six-run outburst in the middle innings and eight shutout innings of relief from Jared Wagner to claim a 6-2 victory over Prince George's Saturday afternoon.
With the victory, the Wolfpack will be the Region XX representative in next week's District Tournament, which will be hosted by Region X champion Rockingham Community College in Wentworth, N.C. The teams will play a doubleheader on Friday, May 21 and if the teams split that, there will be a third game on Saturday, May 22.
The Wolfpack had an uphill climb to start Saturday, as the Owls jumped in front with a pair of runs in the first inning on an RBI double and a sacrifice fly. Westmoreland managed to get at least one runner on in each of the first four innings, but PG starter Logan Marx was sharp and kept his team in front 2-0 after four frames.
In the fifth inning, the Wolfpack finally got on the board. Matt Henderson started the rally when he reached on an error. Following a sacrifice bunt, Tanner Orndorff hit an RBI single to bring in Henderson. Matt Wicker followed by lacing a double to left field that brought in Orndorff and Westmoreland had drawn even at 2-2.
On the mound, Westmoreland brought in Wagner in the second inning. The Wolfpack right-hander came back after he started and threw nine innings in Tuesday's game one win over PG. Wagner escaped trouble in his early innings, which included stranding the bases loaded in the second inning and leaving runners on base in the third inning. But after picking off a runner to end the fourth, he found his groove and retired 12 in a row to give his team the chance to come back.
With Wagner in control on the hill, Westmoreland seized the lead for good in the sixth inning. It began with an error to put Dom Koch on as the leadoff batter and after one out, Nick Fuentes singled. Then with two outs, Caden Kastronis delivered a clutch two-run double into the left-center field gap to put Westmoreland on top 4-2. Following a walk by Orndorff, Wicker ripped a two-run double to right-center field to swell the home team's cushion to 6-2.
That was more than enough for Wagner, who was cruising. He finally allowed a hit with two outs in the eighth but stranded the runner. Then in the ninth, he set the Owls down in order to clinch the victory and send the program to the District Tournament. For the day, Wagner pitched eight shutout innings in relief and allowed just two hits while walking three and striking out three. After the fourth inning, Wagner retired 16 of the final 17 batters he faced.
With the sticks, the Wolfpack collected 11 hits. Wicker had three hits and three RBIs, while Reid Amundson also had three singles and Orndorff reached base three times with two hits and a walk and scored twice.
