Comet baseball season ends with one-hitter
by Lindsay Hoeppner · July 20, 2010

Wilton pitcher Alec Crawford cooled the West Liberty High School baseball squad’s bats last Tuesday in a 12-1 district semifinal loss at Wilton.

“I think we were just a little over matched,” said West Liberty coach Troy Wulf. “There’s a reason they’re a top 10 team in the state. Our guys fought to give everything they could; we just didn’t have the guns to get it done.”

Class 2A No. 6 Wilton started off the game with a victory in mind. Comet pitcher Tyler Newsom walked the first two Beaver batters, while an error at second base and a two-run RBI double led to an early lead for Wilton. After a catcher error, another run was tallied for the Beavers.

West Liberty couldn’t catch up, with a groundout, flyout and strikeout ailing the first three Comet batters in the bottom of the first.

The second inning was nearly a mirror image to the first, as Wilton scored three more runs and the West Liberty batters couldn’t connect with the ball.

Newsom allowed only one run for the Beavers in the third, but three consecutive Comet strikeouts ended the inning with Wilton leading 7-0.

Ryne Paul came in for pitching relief in the fourth, allowing Wilton only one hit. Paul knocked out a double in the bottom of the fourth, securing West Liberty’s only hit of the game. After stealing third base, he was batted in by Avery Meyers, putting the Comets on the board.

That was the only glimpse West Liberty had at the scoreboard, though, as Wilton scored four runs in the top of the fifth with back-to-back doubles, along with a walk followed by a one-out, two-run homer that ended the game early.

The Comets ended the season 6-19 overall and 5-16 in the Cedar Valley Conference.

Overall, Wulf was impressed with the effort shown by the Comets throughout the season.

“I thought the kids really fought together,” he said. “They finished winning three of the four of their last games. I’m pretty proud of the way they stuck together and finished the season relatively strong. I’m really, really proud of how they kept plugging away.”

What’s more, Wulf has higher expectations for next season’s squad, as the team is only losing two starting seniors — Carlos Jacques and Ryne Paul.

“From a result standpoint, we would expect to improve the win total,” he said. “We should have a good group back, so I would expect improved play overall, because they should mature athletically. It should be a solid group next year.”