Pitching, timely offense lead Wolves to win over Jackets
♦ Wade and Mather combine for a shutout as Rome’s bats do enough to defeat Calhoun.
Rome got a dominant combined effort on the mound, dazzling defense and timely offensive production Wednesday, and all that combined for a strong 3-0 non-region victory over Calhoun at Legion Field behind The Levee.
The Wolves (9-12) saw starter Braxton Wade throw three shutout innings to open the game as he allowed just one hit and struck out three to earn the win, and Trent Mather picked up right where he left off as he came on in relief and closed things out for the save going four scoreless innings and allowing only two hits while striking out one.
“Braxton didn’t pitch last week, and we knew we need to bring him back again soon so we had him set up for three innings or 40 pitches today,” said Rome head coach Brent Tucker. “He came out and threw strikes and had some life on his fastball. I think he ended up at 38 pitches through three innings so that was exactly what we were looking for. Then we turned it over to Trent. He kept the
ball down, kept them off balance and let the defense play behind him.”
As Tucker eluded to, both pitchers received great support from their defense behind them as multiple diving catches were made in the outfield and several tough plays were converted in the infield.
That defense and pitching was aided by a few timely hits and smart baserunning
from the Wolves. They got on the board first in the third inning as Joe Wilkinson came home to score on a wild pitch. Another insurance run came in the fifth as Johnny Vigoa drove one to the leftcenter gap for an RBI double to score Will Black, and Rome plated their final run in the sixth as Barritt Cowan came
across the plate after a throw on a steal attempt at third trickled into left field.
“That’s our type of game right there,” said Tucker. “We can run a little bit so if we get the leadoff guy on, we can do some things offensively. We left a couple runs out there that we needed to come through on today, but we did enough to support our pitching and defense to get the win.
“It was an overall good win. Our guys threw strikes, we played good defense and we put some pressure on them on the bases.”
Vigoa’s RBI double was the big offensive blow for Rome, but seven others had hits in the win. Wade, Wilkinson, Mather and Cowan all contributed one hit apiece, and Jeremiah Farrer, Carson Atkins and Josh Ellard also each had one hit. Cowan added two stolen bases and a run scored, and Wilkinson and Black had a stolen base and run scored apiece.
The only two hits for Calhoun (15-5) in the loss came from Andrew Purdy and Isaac Green. Jacob Tolson also reached on a walk.
The Yellow Jackets got solid pitching as starter Brooks Crawford went four innings before being lifted in the fifth and allowed two runs on five hits while striking out four in a loss. Ripken West pitched two innings of relief and allowed one run on two hits while striking out three.
Rome will jump back into Region 5-AAAAAA play on Friday when they visit South Paulding at 5:55 p.m. Tucker said he hopes this win over a talented Calhoun team will have a carry-over effect as they head down the stretch in region play.
“That’s three in a row now, and I think the biggest thing is that it shows our guys that when we bring energy and play for each other we are a good ball team,” said Tucker. “There has been times when we’ve brought no energy, and that shows in the results. We’ve got a lot of sophomores and freshmen that we’re counting on with this team, and the biggest thing they are learning right now is you have to show up every day with the same effort and energy.”