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Whole Wheaton: Foley
Pitcher Sharp In Opener
Lions and Daphne
remain undefeated after two days of Hank Aaron tourney action
By STAFF REPORTS -
Mobile Press-Register Sports Reporter
Gulf Shores,
AL (February 18, 2010) -- It certainly didn't feel like
baseball season on the opening night of the Hank Aaron
Classic, but Foley's Taylor Wheaton looked to already be in
midseason form.
Wheaton never seemed affected by temperatures that dipped
into the lower 40s, striking out 13 and allowing just two
hits and no earned runs in a complete-game gem to help the
Lions beat Gulf Shores 4-1.
"I was just hitting the spots,"
said Wheaton, who walked only one. "A lot of work in the
off-season paid off tonight. The defense was working behind
me. We got good hits at the right times, so everything was
working for us."
Wheaton, a senior, opened the
game by striking out the side. He followed with three more
1-2-3 innings.
Foley got all the offense it
needed in the second inning, scoring four runs off Dolphins
starter Collin Blankenship. Jamin Graham started the inning
with a single, Tayler Bishop followed with a walk and Eric
Fontaine drove both in with a two-run double down the
right-field line. Kyle Pilgrim then drew a walk, Zane
Brewer's sac bunt moved the runners to second and third and
Matt Salter, who finished 2-for-3, added a two-run single up
the middle.
Gulf Shores got on the board in
the top of the fourth as Foley committed three errors. The
first Lion miscue allowed Blankenship to reach and the
second got courtesy runner Cody Edwards home from first. The
Dolphins had a chance to do more damage, but with a runner
on second and two outs, Bishop charged in and made a diving
grab in centerfield to end the inning.
"We came out and were playing
fast," said Foley coach Kevin Madden. "The kids played
excited and they played with confidence and came out here
and got a win early in the season. Hopefully, that will kind
of set the tone for them and they'll have that expectation
now that every time we step on the field, we're going to
have good things to follow."
Blankenship had an effective
night. The South Alabama signee yielded just four hits,
struck out eight and walked two over six innings.
"We still have to work on our
approach a little bit hitting," Madden said. "Blankenship
threw well. We were able to get to him that one inning and
that was enough to hold on."
In the opener, Daphne's Russ
Mosley hit a grand slam and finished with five RBIs to lead
the Trojans to a 13-1, five-inning win against Robertsdale.
Matt Peterson got the win, fanning seven over five innings
and helping his cause with an RBI double.
DAY 2
Daphne 6, Gulf Shores 2 - Daphne
High used a strong defensive effort and some late runs to
nail down a 6-2 win over Gulf Shores High on day two.
Russ Mosley (1-0) went the
distance on the mound, scattering five hits and one walk
with seven strikeouts for the Trojans, while Brandon Davis
(0-1) gave up six hits, four walks and four earned out of
six runs along with two strikeouts for the Dolphins.
"Defensively Russ pitched a
really solid game with only 82 pitches," Daphne coach Joe
Hutchins said. "He was efficient and pitched to contact.
(Brandon) Peterson, the day before, had 80 pitches in five
innings, which was a good outing. Our defense is pretty
solid because they were always moving around."
Dillon Schaniel went 3-for-3
with an RBI and two runs scored and Dakota Ehmka added a
double and two hits for Daphne, which improved to 2-0
overall.
Brayden Bateman had an RBI
single that turned into two runs scoring on a throwing error
as Gulf Shores (0-2) tied the game 2-all in the top of the
fourth inning.
"Daphne took advantage of a
couple mistakes on our defensive part, but they did a good
job," Gulf Shores coach Donnie Spohn said. "They beat us,
but it was close early."
The Trojans scored one run each
in the bottom of the first and second innings and two each
in the fifth and sixth.
"Offensively, right now we are
doing a great job of getting guys in scoring position in,"
Hutchins said. "That is what we've improved on. Last year we
couldn't get a runner in from third base to save our lives,
but this year we haven't left a runner on third base. We are
doing the little things to get guys in from scoring
position."
Foley 11, Robertsdale 6 - Foley
High got off to a fast start offensively, then played well
defensively down the stretch to hold off Robertsdale.
Zach Hughes (1-0) took the
pitching win for the Lions, giving up nine hits, one walk
and six runs with three strikeouts in five innings, while
Isaac Bradford (0-1) picked up the loss after yielding six
hits, three walks and eight runs -- five of which were
earned -- with four strikeouts in three innings for the
Golden Bears.
Tayler Bishop 3-for-4 with three
RBIs and a double, Kyle Pilgrim and Zane Brewer had three
RBIs each, Taylor Wheaton was 2-for-3 with a double and
Jamin Graham 2-for-3 for Foley (2-0).
Tres Givens had two doubles and
three RBIs, Josh Baxter a pair of two-run singles and Hunter
Vaughn an RBI single for Robertsdale (0-2), which put the
game-tying run at the plate late in the contest but was
turned back by the Lions.
"They had three runs in the
bottom of the first and five in the third," Robertsdale
coach Kevin Raley said. "We were down 10-1 going into the
top of the fifth, then we scored five runs to cut it to
10-6.
"Foley got out of a
bases-loaded, no-out jam in the top of the sixth. We could
have packed on some more runs and just did not." |
