The Baller's Blog

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

West wins against ACA

Click here to see a video from tonight's game against Asheville Christian Academy

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Falcons rout Bearcats

By Jeremy Trantham
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, March 13, 2009 at 11:27 p.m.

West Henderson wasn’t about to let the weather cancel another game against rival Hendersonville.

The Falcons pressed on, despite a chilly intermittent drizzle, and came away with an 11-1, five-inning nonconference home win on Friday. Junior Taylor Reeves allowed one solo home run in 4 2/3 innings to pick up the win in his first varsity start.

“We had to play them because their schedule is so compacted there’s no place to play them if we (didn’t) play them today,” said West coach Jim Hyatt.

West moves to 4-0 on the season while Hendersonville drops to 0-2, with both losses to Henderson County rivals. The two teams were scheduled to play on March 6 at Green Meadows, but snow forced a cancellation.

Ben Walgenbach kept the Bearcats in the game early, allowing just four unearned runs through the first four innings, before tiring in the fifth. The Falcons, who held a 4-1 lead at the time, knocked Hendersonville’s junior ace from the mound with four straight hits and a walk to start the bottom of the fifth.

“I should have (taken him out) earlier,” said Hendersonville coach Mark Cook. “Ben’s a strong kid, he’s been lifting and throwing a lot. I thought he had good control and his curve ball was working good.”

After Wesley Cook had relieved Walgenbach, a throwing error, Hendersonville’s second of the final frame, allowed Zach Beard to score the game-ending run.

“Not a great night for baseball — cold, wet,” Hyatt said. “I thought both teams were a little sluggish because of the weather. He pitched well and kept us off balance for awhile. He got a little tired and we were able to put some things together.”

Beard was 2-for-4 with two runs, a double and a game-high four RBIs for West. Tyler Isgett went 2-for-3 with a walk and three RBIs.

West took a 4-0 lead in the second as the Falcons took advantage of Hendersonville’s first error. Beard and Isgett provided big two-out hits with back-to-back two-run singles.

The score remained the same until Hendersonville senior Wesley Cook, the coach’s son, launched a solo home run over West’s newly installed taller center-field fence.

“The ball wasn’t carrying great,” Hyatt said. “Of course, the Cook boy carried one pretty good. When he hits it the ball doesn’t have to be carrying great.”

Reeves scattered five hits while striking out six and walking one as the Bearcats stranded seven baserunners.

“Our bats worked at times, but we left too many kids on,” Cook said.

“For his first varsity start I thought (Reeves) pitched well,” Hyatt said. “He made a couple of mistakes and was behind (in the count) a little bit, but I think the more he’s out there on the mound the better he’ll get.”

Jesse Ivens also had a big night at the plate for West, going 2-for-2 with two runs and walk.

While the two late errors helped the Falcons reach the 10-run mercy rule to end the game, Hendersonville’s defense made noticeable improvement since a 12-4 loss at North Henderson earlier in the week.

“Better performance,” Cook said. “Ben pitched well. Wesley came in and threw well. Coach Hyatt and these kids at West have a good team. Same thing early in the year for us, we made some errors and they hurt us.”

Linescore

;;;;;r;h;e

Hendersonville:;0 0 0;0 1 x;x;—;1;5;3

West:;0 4 0;0 7 x;x;—;11;10;1

Winning pitcher: Taylor Reeves (1-0) (4 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 H, 6 Ks, 3 BBs)

Losing pitcher: Ben Walgenbach (0-1) (4 IP, 9 R, 4 ER, 9 H, 5 Ks, 4 BBs)

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Mike Dirks' Photos from West @ Polk County

MIKE DIRKS/TIMES-NEWS 10-March-2009

West routs Polk County, 17-6

West Henderson celebrates as Dillon Baker crosses the plate after hitting a home run against Polk County on Tuesday. (Photo by Mike Dirks)

By Dean Hensley
Times-News Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.

COLUMBUS — West Henderson’s baseball team once again has plenty of firepower, and that’s exactly what Polk County coach Ty Stott wanted his team to see early in the season.

The Falcons exploded for five home runs Tuesday night en route to a 17-6, six-inning mercy-rule win at Polk. In three games so far this season, seven different West batters have hit homers.

Leading the way Tuesday was cleanup hitter Forrest Koontz, who went 4-for-4 with a home run, a double and two RBIs.

“We knew West was going to be good. They just have too many hitters,” Stott said. “This is going to really help us down the road, facing tough non-conference teams like this. I know it’s going to help us. It’s got to help us.”

Tyler Isgett started the home run derby with a two-run shot off Polk starter Danny Fraga in the top of the third that made it 7-0. In the next inning, Tyler Austin ripped a two-run shot over the center-field fence and two batters later, Dillon Baker repeated Austin’s blast with another two-run shot. That ended the evening for Fraga, who went 2 1/3 innings and gave up nine runs, four earned, off seven hits with two walks and a strikeout.

“Offensively, you’ve got to be happy when you put 17 runs on the board. So, I was happy with that. But defensively, we made too many mistakes, and I think we still have a long way to go from where we want to be,” Falcon coach Jim Hyatt said after his team improved to 3-0.

Stott went with Brandon Jolley to start off the top of the fourth, and the homers continued. Koontz hit a solo shot to center, and then things got a little testy when Jolley plunked Austin. But order was restored, and Jolley didn’t hit another batter. Taylor Reeves then ripped a two-run homer, and Matt Roberts followed with an RBI double to make it 13-0 after 3 1/2 innings.

But the Wolverines (2-1) didn’t quit, scoring two runs off two West errors in the bottom of the fourth. Polk then held West scoreless in the top of the fifth and kept the game going with three runs in the bottom half of the inning that included a two-run double from J.P. Ruth.

The Falcons answered with four runs in the top of the sixth to push the lead back up to more than 10 runs and end it.

“We should’ve ended it after five, but those back-to-back errors killed us. I was happy to see us respond with four more runs to finish it off,” Hyatt said.

Both teams return to action Friday. West is at home against Hendersonville, and Polk is on the road at Brevard.

Linescore

r h e

W. Henderson: 3 2 4 4 0 4 x — 17 16 3

Polk County: 0 0 0 2 3 0 x — 6 5 3

Winning pitcher: Tyler Austin (1-0) (6 IP, 6 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 Ks, 1 BB)

Losing pitcher: Danny Fraga (0-1) (2 1/3 IP, 9 R, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 K, 2 BBs)

Saturday, March 7, 2009

West boys shut out Swain in First Baseball Game of Season

Published: Thursday, March 5, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at 11:04 p.m.

BASEBALL

West Henderson 21

Swain County 0

r h e

West: 1 5 7 8 0 x x — 21 17 0

Swain: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 1 7

Winning pitcher: Daniel Hyatt (1-0) (4 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 7 Ks, 1 BBs)

Losing pitcher: McClure (0-1) (2 2/3 IP, 12 R, 3 ER, 10 H, 1 Ks, 1 BBs)

Leading hitters: West — Daniel Hyatt 3-for-4, home run, four RBIs Dillon Baker 1-for-4, home run, three RBIs Taylor Reeves 3-for-4, home run, double, three RBIs Jesse Ivens 1-for-4, grand-slam home run, five RBIs, Matt Roberts 3 for 3 with a double on a one-hopper to the fence. Swain — McMahan, 1-for-2. NOTE: No more than three hitters per team.

Highlights: West Henderson hit four home runs to win this nonconference season opener for both teams.