WNC Baseball: Wildcats Triumph over Salt Lake Bruins in regional tournament
Submitted by editor on Sat, 05/10/2014 - 9:18am
The Western Nevada College Wildcats took on Scenic West’s topped-rank Salt Lake Community College Bruins Saturday at the Region XVIII tournament. Salt Lake earned home-field advantage and the right to be the home team as the number one seed in the conference. Christian Stolo started on the mound for the Wildcats of Carson City.
Salt Lake presented the first opportunity to score in the second inning. Derrick Whitney knocked a ground rule double. Stolo walked Bruin Zach Watts and Zack Willis to load the bases before thunder in the area caused a three-hour game delay. Stolo struck out the next two batters after the delay, leaving the runners stranded.
Both teams were scoreless in the third, and in the fourth, WNC’s Connor Klein singled. Stolo reached on an error, outing Klein. Joey Crunkilton and Alex Fife drew walks to load the bases, but the runners were left stranded. The pitching duel kept both teams scoreless through the fifth inning.
WNC’s Jake Bennett led off the sixth inning with a single. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Klein. Stolo knocked a two-run homer, putting the Wildcats on the board, 2-0. Crunkilton kept the momentum going with a single. Fife reached on a fielder’s choice, forcing Crunkilton out at second. Spenser Dorsey flied out to bring the top of the inning to a close. WNC blanked Salt Lake in the bottom of the inning, and both teams were scoreless in the seventh.
Bennett led off the eighth with a walk, followed by a walk for Klein which prompted Salt Lake to retire pitcher Jason Jourdan; Jordan Hager took over on the mound. Stolo tapped a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. Fife was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A base hit by Dorsey scored Bennett and Klein to broaden the WNC lead, 4-0. In the final inning, Bennett added to the Wildcats lead with a solo homerun.
Pitcher Max Karnos came in to close for the first time in the season for the final inning. He made quick work of the Bruins, facing three batters. He struck out two and gave up no hits.
“Max did a good job of putting up two goose eggs for us in his first closing appearance,” said Coach DJ Whittemore.
Christian Stolo got the win for the Wildcats. He struck out 10, gave up three hits and walked five.
Whittemore applauded his team for the win. “We came out focused after the long delay. Stolo pitched us out of some early jams and gave our offense a chance to get the lead. The offense did a good job of extending our lead, with Dorsey coming through with a big hit with bases loaded.”
