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Five for five: Wolverines stay perfect in district play
BY CHRIS O'DELL, codell@starlocalnews.com
CARROLLTON -- With last week's rain pushing Wakeland's meeting against Carrollton Creekview to Monday night, the Wolverines looked to grab their fifth district win of the season before getting back to their regular schedule on Tuesday.
The Mustangs couldn't hand Wakeland its first loss against a district opponent this season, putting the Wolverines at 5-0 against 9-4A counterparts after a 13-3 victory in six innings.
"We needed that," said Barry Rose, Wakeland head coach. "We only scored two runs on Saturday against Centennial so it was nice to get some runs tonight."
"There might have been a lack of preparation with the extra day off," said Stacy Largent, Creekview head coach. "But I'm not going to make any excuses for us."
Creekview looked poised for the upset during the early innings, jumping out to a 3-0 lead before the start of the third.
With sophomore starter Zach Rothert working two scoreless innings to begin the game, the Mustangs gave the hurler early support by scoring two runs in the first and adding another in the second.
The game's first runs came courtesy of junior outfielder Jake Karigan, who drove in two runs with an RBI double after senior Kevin Hull and sophomore James Johnson singled in the first two at-bats of the contest.
"I think the first three guys in our lineup were just due," Largent said. "They were a big part of our success early on."
The early deficit didn't faze Wakeland though, as the Wolverines came back with a three-run inning in the third to knot the game at three runs apiece.
"I was trying to get everybody to relax at the plate and let the game come to them," Rose said.
The inning was kicked off by a leadoff single from senior Hayden Nixon, who was playing in the oufield before his expected start on the mound Tuesday night.
With senior third baseman Willie Schwanke adding a single of his own during the inning, the Wolverines were able to score on RBI singles from first baseman Johnny Gonzalez and catcher Seth Mullis.
However, the majority of the damage would be done in the fourth inning, with Wakeland driving in another five runs to take an 8-3 lead.
"[Creekview] gave us a few extra opportunities and we took advantage of it," Rose said.
The Mustangs would commit four errors in the game, with senior Justin Swanner reaching base on three different miscues.
Swanner's biggest at-bat of the evening came in the fourth inning when the senior second baseman came up with the bases loaded.
A grand slam by Swanner widened the Wakeland lead to five runs and put the Wolverines in complete control.
"That really opened the game up," Rose said.
"You just can't win with that amount of errors," Largent said.
For good measure, the Wolverines added two more runs in the fifth and three in the sixth.
A 2-RBI single from designated hitter Ryan Perry accounted for two of the late five runs, with Mullis adding a solo home run to lead off the sixth inning.
On the hill for Wakeland was junior hurler Cameron Brockhoff, who went three-plus innings and surrendered three runs on five hits. Brockhoff also struck out seven batters and walked four.
Meanwhile, Rothert lasted three innings and gave up three runs on four hits and walked four.
The difference in each team's bullpen was the ultimate difference, as Wakeland sophomore reliever Austin Gehle pitched the final three innings without surrendering a single run. Gehle struck out four batters and only allowed one base-runner over the final three innings.
"[Gehle] did a really good job," Rose said. "We knew we had those two guys [Gehle and Brockhoff] to go with tonight."
Wakeland will now host Liberty in a 7:30 p.m. first pitch on Tuesday with its unbeaten district mark on the line against the 4-1 Redhawks.
"Any time Wakeland and Liberty play it's a big game," Rose said.
The Mustangs will take on Frisco in a road contest at the same time, with the team looking to keep a winning mark against 9-4A foes.
"It's huge," Largent said. "We're sitting at 3-2 right now. I think we're in a good position."
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