Wildcat JV competes in Longview tourney

The Whitehouse JV "A" baseball team was in action last weekend in the Longview tournament. The Wildcats played their first game on Friday in the bitter cold but provided some firepower at the plate to produce a 10-1 win.

Justin Haney worked the mound for the Cats picking up the win. The Wildcats wasted little time getting an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first as Skip Caldwell scored on an infield hit by Conner Crawford and then Crawford scored later as Payton Smith reached on an error.

That lead stood until the top of the four th as Crawford picked up 3 RBI's on a bases clearing double and then scored on a double by Smith to make the score 6-0. The Cats would later score 4 more in the sixth on three hits to blow things open.

The second game Friday saw the Wildcats end up in a 6-6 tie with Longview. The tournament rules called for a tie breaker on runners reached to third base which both teams tied on. Then both teams tied on runners advancing to second base so the next step was to flip a coin which left Whitehouse on the short end headed into the loser's bracket.

The Wildcats offense got going in the top of the second as they scored 3 runs to take a 3-1 lead.

Big hits in the inning came from Patrick Grace with a RBI double and then Conner Cashion followed with a double to center driving in two runs.

The Cats picked up two runs in the third to push the lead to 5-1 as Austin Kea scored on a base hit.

The Lobos cut into the lead with two runs of their own in the bottom of the third.

The score remained close the rest of the way and Longview scored one final run in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 6 all.

Smith worked the mound for the Cats pitching the first four innings and Cory Henderson came in for relief to pitch the fifth and sixth for the Cats.

A loss late Friday night put the Cats into the consolation final on Saturday at noon against Longview. The Wildcats came out victorious as they defeated the Lobos 6-4 in five innings due to time limit.

The Cats were led at the plate by Cashion and Logan Newton who each had 3 for 3 days and accounting for 2 RBI's in the game. Smith also had two hits while Jacob Hilburn and Crawford each had a hit and reached base three times each.

Justin Haney had a double to lead off the fourth inning and then later scored on Crawford's infield hit.

The Wildcat defense was solid until the bottom of the fourth when they allowed 4 unearned runs to allow the Lobos to cut into the lead.

Cashion worked the mound going four innings, allowing two hits, striking out five and walking three. Clint Turman worked the fifth inning to get the save for the Wildcats striking out two in the inning.