HS Baseball: Willis Escapes in Rigorous Battle Against College Park

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- The Willis Wildkats (9-8-3) added a crucial road win in a 6-4 victory over the hosting College Park Cavaliers (8-9-1) where everything had to be left on the field.

Lead-off batting for the Wildkats was the first spark that fueled Willis’ fire to open the first.

Zadin Cannon rocketed a shot to the outfield for a standing double before early pitching sent College Park spinning.

Cannon was joined on the basepath by Gage Blinka due to a single. Then, back-to-back walks issued by the Cavs brought Cannon home for the game’s opening run with only one out.

Willis threatened to extend this early lead, but an excellent play from College Park right fielder Jake Medders managed to catch one out before beating the Willis runner to home on a much-needed double play that kept the Wildkats at 1-0.

Unfortunately for College Park, their bats needed an inning to warm up, as two quick outs and a picked-off runner on the way to third sank the Cavs’ chance at a fast response.

Defensive play from the Cavs in the top of the second held the Wildkats scoreless. And with the lead still at just one run, College Park took their chances to force a second-inning tie.

An unusual single on a passed ball got Sergio Alvarez aboard for the Cavs before an outfield double from Ethan Kerze brought him home to notch the teams even at one run a piece.

The Cavaliers could have taken the lead were it not for an unfortunate miscue on the way to third base that left Kerze wandering in no man's land. An easy out at third sent the only runner in scoring position to the dugout for the Cavs, and the team had to settle for a tie heading into the third.

The Wildkats responded to their freshly lost lead by putting together the strongest hitting performance of the night.

Blinka got aboard via a single and was joined shortly after by Kelley Abke. What followed was a series of walks, hit batters, and errors on the side of College Park that brought Blinka and Abke in for runs that reestablished Willis as the front-runners.

In an exclusive interview with The Woodlands Online Sports, Willis Head Coach Brett Washburn discussed the team’s aggressive stance on the bases and how the runners have bought into the strategy.

“Every guy knows their role. Every guy is buying into those roles because they know that their moment could be at any point in time,” said Washburn. “There’re no egos, necessarily, whenever guys are getting flip-flopped around.”

College Park responded in the bottom of the third with another run that bit into the Willis lead, but the 3-2 advantage still played to the Wildkats’ benefit.

Neither team built momentum in the fourth, but the desperate swings of the Cavaliers highlighted the team’s plight to get back into the game. But with each swing, the balance of control dipped closer to Matthew DeAnda’s side.

The Willis pitcher struck out two batters in the scoreless fourth on his way to securing six total on the night. With the additional three added by reliever Xane Burns, the Wildkat pitchers sat down nine combined batters that were sorely needed on the bags.

“To go back to last year, we lost over 70 percent of our innings as a pitching staff,” explained Washburn. “Some of these new guys are stepping into some roles where they have to fill some big shoes. We’ve been talking to Burns about his role as a fireman, and he came and put out some fires tonight.”

Two insurance runs in the top of the fifth added a much-needed cushion for the Wildkats, with the additional space serving as the final swansong for Jai Pouaka-Grego on the mound for the Cavs.

With Willis threatening to inch away in the final innings, the Cavs replied by ratcheting up the pressure on DeAnda’s tired arm.

Signs of a struggle flashed in the bottom of the fifth due to Medders reaching first on a walk before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Chris Worley added to the adverse situation by singling and bringing Medders in for an RBI.

Worley was then brought home on a triple from Patariki Pouaka-Grego that brought the game back to a one-run affair with the window for a comeback still wide open for the Cavs.

Luckily for the Wildkats, more timely hitting kept the team afloat, with a two-out rally seeing Abke round the bases for another Willis run in the clutch.

“We’re just trying to be consistent,” said Washburn on the team’s hitting. “Trying to apply pressure early, hunting the fastball, making them throw strikes.”

Unfazed by another Wildkat run, the Cavaliers quickly got on base with an opening that could have gotten the team its first lead of the game.

With two runners on, Coach Washburn decided to bring in Burns to relieve the tired DeAnda before the game was given away. Burns not only escaped without any runs given up in the bottom of the sixth, but he managed to strikeout back-to-back batters in doing so.

The air was effectively taken out of College Park’s sails. A late pinch hitter did reach base for the Cavs, but three straight outs, including another strikeout for Burns, ended the game with a dugout-clearing cheer from the Wildkats in celebration of their 6-4 road victory.

Willis now stands soundly in third place in the district standings at 5-2, but the need to string together victories has to come if they hope to keep inside the already tight playoff race.

“The next six games, one more against College Park, are our must-haves with all of us kind of clustered there,” said Washburn. “It was really good to see that we can come into their place and put some pressure on them. We responded well whenever the pressure was on us, and it gave us a much-needed win.”

Game two of the home and away series will take place at Willis on Tuesday the 25th.