Three wins, two losses in two weeks of Wildcat Baseball
By Coach Harv Antle
MOUNTAIN GROVE, Mo. — The Licking Wildcats saw their seventh inning rally fall short on Tuesday night, April 12, and lost to the Panthers 4-3.
Mountain Grove scored twice in the first inning and two more times in the third. Meanwhile, the Wildcats left two runners on in the first and stranded the bases loaded in the third and fourth.
In the seventh, trailing 4-0, Licking used four hits and a walk to pull within a run. The big blow was an Elijah Ullom two-run double.
With the tying run at third and the go ahead run at first with two outs, the Panthers’ wriggled off the hook and got the final out. The loss dropped Licking to 9-2 on the season.
Cole Wallace took the Licking loss as he pitched two and two-thirds innings and was charged with four runs on six hits. Keyton Cook relieved in the third and threw hitless ball the rest of way and struck out five.
Malachi Antle went 2-for-4 for Licking. Cook had a hit and an RBI, while Wallace, Keyton Rinne, and Rusty Buckner added hits in the contest.
In the JV game, Licking won 3-1 behind the pitching of Kale Cook and Alex Buckner.
Cook worked three innings and allowed no runs while striking out three. Buckner pitched the final two frames and permitted one run on one hit.
Kannon Buckner went 1-for-3 with a run scored as did Garrett Gorman to lead the Wildcats’ offense. Brently Morris drove in a run and the JV Cats raised their record to 4-1.
MANSFIELD, Mo. — The Licking Wildcats scored three times in the top of the seventh and came from behind to beat the Mansfield Lions 9-8 in Mansfield on Monday night, April 18.
Licking trailed 8-2 after three innings but chipped away at the deficit with three runs in the fourth and a single tally in the fifth. That set the stage for the seventh.
With one out, Licking loaded the bases. Malachi Antle scratched an infield single, Silas Antle drew a walk, and Rusty Buckner’s ground out put Licking on top 9-8.
Keyton Cook slammed the door in the bottom of the seventh with a three up, three down inning for the save. That made a winner of Austin Stephens.
Stephens, the third of four Licking pitchers, toiled three scoreless innings while he scattered four hits and struck out three.
Offensively for Licking, Cole Wallace was 1-for-3 but reached base five times and scored four runs. Spencer Rogers doubled and scored, Buckner collected three hits, Silas Antle drove in three runs, and Malachi Antle went 2-for-3.
Mansfield won the JV game 7-4. Logan Gorman took the Licking loss.
Garrett Gorman went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI to lead the Licking offense. Logan Gorman singled and drove in a run, Kale Cook drove in two runs to go with a 2-for-2 day, and Cole McCloy was 1-for-3.
STOUTLAND, Mo. — In an effort to make up a couple of conference games, the Licking Wildcats defeated the Laquey Hornets and Stoutland Tigers in a varsity doubleheader at Stoutland on Tuesday night, April 19.
In the first game, the Wildcats shut out the Hornets 15-0. Rusty Buckner allowed two hits and fanned five over four innings for the win.
Elijah Ullom led the offense for the winners with a 2-for-3 performance that included two RBIs. Kannon Buckner also logged two hits and Keyton Rinne singled and scored three runs while Spencer Rogers knocked in two runs.
In the nightcap, Licking downed Stoutland 16-1. Cole Wallace was the winning pitcher with four innings of two-hit ball as he walked two and struck out three.
Malachi Antle paced the hitting attack with two hits in four trips and he drove in four runs. Wallace was 2-for-3 with three RBIs while Keyton Cook and Keyton Rinne enjoyed two-hit games as well.
With the victories, Licking improved to 12-2 on the season. No JV games were played on Tuesday.
ASHLAND, Mo. – The Licking Wildcats traveled to Ashland on Friday night, April 22, to take on the Southern Boone Eagles and fell 7-0.
Southern Boone broke open a tight 3-0 game in the sixth. Licking committed two errors in the inning that led to four Southern Boone runs.
Austin Stephens started and took the loss for Licking. The Wildcats offense was stagnant most of the night, stymied by a lack of timely hitting that led to seven runners left on base.
Kaiden Wantland had two hits for Licking while Keyton Rinne and Rusty Buckner chipped in one hit each. Southern Boone came into the game as the number two team in Class 4 and improved to 22-1 on the spring.
Licking fell to 12-3 with the setback. Southern Boone made it a clean sweep on the night with an 8-1 win in the JV game.
Alex Buckner was tagged with the loss as Licking slipped to 4-3 on the season. Kannon Buckner scored the lone run for the JV ‘Cats while Garrett Gorman, Alex Buckner, and Cole McCloy all went 1-for-2.
