Baseball team nabs wins

Next step regionals

Posted

The West Liberty Baseball team captured victories this week over Durant and West Branch but suffered losses to Anamosa and New London. The Comet baseball team of coach Troy Wulf boasts a 10-12 season record and will start post season play Friday as they’ll host Winfield-Mt Union Columbus in their first round of post-season play beginning at 7 p.m.

Should the Comets win over the 2-14 team, they play 15-7 Anamosa at Iowa City Regina beginning at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, July 5, proceeding a game between Regina, a team with a 13-10 record, and the winner of the 6-12 West Branch vs. 3-16 Louisa Muscatine contest on Friday. The District 10 championship game will also be played at Regina on Saturday, July 9, beginning at 7 p.m.

The Comets continued preparing for that Regional on Tuesday, June 21, when West Liberty visited Durant. The Comets jumped ahead, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning and two more in the second. The Wildcats pushed across a run in the third before the contest was postponed due to weather.

The Comets finished the job on Friday, scoring a bonus run in the seventh to take a 6-1 victory.

Drake Collins captured the pitching win for the Comets, recording four strikeouts on one walk and seven hits. Caleb Wulf came in to close out the job striking out another. Wulf also drove in three RBI for the Comets.

On Wednesday, June 22, the Comets played host to New London. The Tigers pounced early, scoring three runs in the second and putting the Comets to bed early. Three more runs crossed the plate in the fourth as the Comets trailed 6-0 before being able to respond, pushing across two in the bottom half of the frame. Four in the fifth and two in the sixth saw the mercy rule come into play with the Comets falling 12-2.

Brothers Ryan and Colin Cassady pushed across RBIs for the Comets in the loss.

In the last matchup of the regular week against hosting Anamosa, the Blue Raiders stormed the Comet pitchers early, pushing across four runs in the bottom of the first and one in the second. Both teams’ bats remained silent for the majority of the contest before the Comets put together a comeback attempt, pushing across three runs in the top of the seventh.

It proved too little too late as the Comets were unable to overcome the deficit and fell 5-3.

Tytan Griffith and Ty Jones shared time on the mound for the Comets, combining for seven strikeouts while giving up eight hits and five earned runs. Ryker Dengler headlined the Comet bats driving in two RBI in the loss.

On Monday, a senior night crowd honored the coach’s son, Caleb Wulf, before the junior college prospect came out to pitch a 3- 0 shutout by striking out 12 batters in six innings while Drake Collins also came in to strike out a batter.

Drake Collins had the hot bat with a double for the Comets to drive in one RBI while Colin Cassady also had a hit. The Comets scored all three of their runs in the third inning to break open the scoreless game.

Their first game in regionals will be Saturday, at 7 p.m., at home against Winfield-Mt. Union.

Comments