Sullivan Pounds Wright City 17-5
Sullivan totaled 12 hits and took advantage of eight errors Saturday to defeat overmatched Wright City 17-5 in the Four Rivers Classic.
Josh Wiese went six innings, allowed four earned runs, struck out three and pitched around five walks in his varsity debut.
Wright City needed four pitchers to get through Saturday night’s finale. The Wildcats were battered by Washington 16-4 Saturday afternoon.
Cody McKinney had three hits to along with four RBIs. Wyatt Schmidt also had three hits and he drove in three runs.
Austin Frye doubled and singled and Lucas Cottrell was 2-4 with three runs scored. Both Frye and Cottrell had two RBIs.
Landon Hoffman, Mike Kraus, Will Allen and Tanner Jackson all had hits.
The Eagles plated three runs in the second. Kraus walked and Cottrell reached on an error. McKinney drove both in with a double to left. McKinney was caught stealing for the first out, but Allen was hit by a pitch and later advanced to third on a passed ball and ground out. Schmidt’s two-out single to center brought home Allen.
Things got messier for Wright City in the third. Two of Sullivan’s first three batters reached on errors, with Hoffman scoring on a grounder misplayed at short for a 4-0 Eagles lead. Cottrell’s RBI single to right scored Frye. McKinney also reached on an error to bring in Kraus. A ground out by Allen scored Cottrell.
Schmidt delivered another two-out single when he roped a line drive to left and drove in McKinney, giving the Eagles an 8-0 lead.
Wright City got two of the runs back in the third on a dropped third strike and a wild pitch. The Eagles took the runs back in the top of the fourth. Frye hit a one-out double, Kraus was hit by a pitch and Cottrell’s fielder’s choice allowed Frye to cross the plate. McKinney had an infield single to score Cottrell all the way from second.
Wright City added another run in the bottom half of the inning on an infield single. The Wildcats had runners on the corner with two outs. Wiese escaped with a fly out to center.
Sullivan picked up two more runs in the fifth. An error on a fly ball by Frye scored Miller. With Cottrell batting, Hoffman stole home when Wright City went to pick off Kraus. Sullivan led 12-3.
In the sixth, Allen hit a one-out double. Jackson was hit by a pitch and with Schmidt batting, Allen scored on an error by the catcher. Jackson scored on Schmidt’s third hit of the day — a double to left. Miller was then hit by a pitch and Hoffman walked to load the bases. Frye hit a sacrifice fly to right. Miller and Hoffman executed a double steal, allowing Miller to take home. Kraus’ RBI double gave the Eagles a 17-3 lead.
Wright City scored twice in the sixth.