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Photo courtesy of Tony Valentino
Quitman High School head baseball coach Joe Lockhart told his team it would take a total team effort for his 5th seeded, Wolverines to beat #4 seed Stanley on their home field. Ask and you shall receive!
Every starter got a hit and all but one either scored a run or drove at least one in as Quitman waltzed their way into the Division V semi-finals with a surprisingly easy 8-1 victory. Adding to the team’s impressive effort was the focus and ability to come through in the clutch that was demonstrated personified by the fact that seven of the eight runs that QHS scored came with two outs. Talk about delivering!
“We knew what kind of team Stanley had from when we played them earlier in the year (Quitman won 5-4 in 8 innings) and what kind of effort it would take to beat them on their home field,” said Lockhart. “I am so proud of the guys for the way they stepped up both offensively and in the field.”
Sulphur Bound! With the victory, QHS qualifies for the LHSAA Division V “non-select” state tournament for the second time in the past three years. The Wolverines will now put their 17-10 record on the line against defending state champion and top ranked Pitkin, who beat Anacoco 11-2 to improve to 23-3 on the year. The semi-final contest is scheduled to be played at 11:00am on May 7th on Field 37 at McMurry Park in Sulphur, LA.
Four Score! Just like the first time, when the two north Louisiana small school powers played on March 30th, Quitman broke on top by four runs. The only difference was in the first contest it was the second inning that the Wolverines exploded, this time QHS plated four in the first frame. Hudson Pullig and Logan Ponder got the first inning started by both hitting singles. Two outs later both were still on first and second base but John Raegan Hasley came through with a single to left to give Quitman the lead. Then Wolverines got a break when a ground ball hit by Pete Simonelli to shortstop was booted to score Ponder, the first of four Stanley errors on the day. Ian Tilley then delivered a sharp single to left that plated Hasley and Simonelli.
Securing the lead! Stanley put two on with two outs as well in their half of the first but starting pitcher Ponder slammed the door on the rally attempt by executing a perfect pick off throw to shortstop, Maddox Duck, who applied the tag on the base runner at second base to end the threat.
Two More! The Wolverines added two more to the score in the top of the third thanks to crafty baserunning. Riley Duck coaxed a walk to open the inning followed by Simonelli hitting a one out single. The pair executed a double steal leading to Duck scoring when the throw was misplayed by the Stanley third baseman. Jayden Harts came in to pinch run for Simonelli and immediately made his impact felt by stealing third base. Another misplayed throw to a base upped the lead to 6-0 when after getting hit by a pitch, Braden Hobbs stole second with the throw getting away from the shortstop that allowed Harts to score.
Adding another! The Wolverines added another run to up the lead to 7-0 in the fifth inning. Pete Simonelli reached base for the third time, when his grounder to the left side of the infield forced John Raegan Hasley, who had opened the fame with a single, at second base. Once again Harts came on to run, took third on a passed ball and scored on a Hobbs single.
Final Run! The Wolverines tallied their final run in the sixth inning, which was the first time in the contest the Wolverines didn’t wait until they had two outs in an inning to score. For the sixth straight frame, QHS got their lead off batter on when Ponder singled. Kace West followed with Quitman’s only extra base hit of the game, smacking a double to left but Ponder was thrown out at home trying to score from first base. Riley Duck then followed with a single that scored West.
Duel Delivery! In regard to “delivering” the Wolverines also got a tremendous pitching performance from Ponder and Tilley. The pair who also combined to pitch Quitman past Doyline in the quarterfinals, limited Stanley to just two hits and one meaningless earned run in the final inning while striking out seven.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
QHS | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 11 | 0 |
SHS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
2B – West
RBI – Tilley 2, R. Duck, Hasley, Hobbs
Runs – Harts 2, Pullig, Ponder, West, R. Duck, Hasley, Simonelli
Steals – Hobbs 2, Harts, R. Duck, Simonelli
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