Henry Daily Herald

Photo by Heather Middleton

By Doug Gorman

dgorman@news-daily.com

It's a good bet Woodland baseball coach Michael Hardy got a little worried Wednesday afternoon as he watched his team's seemingly comfortable sixr-run lead against Dutchtown slip away.

After all, the Wolfpack have been on the losing end of three one-run games this season.

Not this time.

When the dust settled against the Bulldogs in the key Region 3A-AAAA game, the Wolfpack were on the positive end of the close game, winning 10-8.

"We have lost so many close games," said Woodland coach Michael Hardy. "This keeps us still in the playoff hunt."

The Wolfpack took control of the game in the top of the sixth inning when it scored three times to jump out to a 10-4 lead. Brandon Bryan's triple helped sparked the inning. Caleb Ashbaugh and Charlie Stubbs singled in the inning and later scored.

As it turned out, the Wolfpack needed those runs to help cushion their lead as Dutchtown's rally came up just short.

Jeremy Arrington started the inning with a walk and the rally was on from that point.

"I told our guys we can't let somebody get on like that in the last inning, If they are going to get on, make them earn their way on," Hardy said.

Base hits by Scoyners, Kellan Holiday, Sam Kim and Alex Goss helped ignite the four-run rally before the Wolpack finally got out of the inning to seal the win.

It wasn't the first time. The Wolfpack had to put out a Dutchtown rally attempt. Woodland needed double plays in the second and third innings to crush potential scoring threats by the Bulldogs.

Dutchtown loaded the bases in the second inning and appeared ready to break a 2-2 tie when starting Woodland pitcher Caleb Ashbaugh scooped up a hard hit ball that was ripped up the middle to start the double play.

The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Sconyers RBI triple and Holiday's RBI single helped spark the Dutchtown inning.

Dutchtown didn't keep the lead for long as Woodland tied the game in the bottom of the inning when Cody Still reached on an error and later scored on Stubb's RBI. Gassaway doubled in the inning and then scored on Bryan's base hit.

Woodland took the lead for good with three runs in the third inning. Still reached on an error and scored on Ashbaugh's base hit. Bryan kept the inning alive with a double. He and Ashbaugh then scored on back-to-back wild pitches.

The Wolfpack added two more runs in the fourth inning when Jacob Norton walked and Taylor Sorenson singled. Both crossed the plate after Dutchtown committed back to back errors.

The loss dropped Dutchtown to 1-11 overall.

"I think we just need to get a win," said Dutchtown coach Michael Breedlove. "We have lost so many close games, but I am very proud of these guys. They work hard, and they never quit."