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Whitewater 8 Beloit Turner 11
Article by Nate Parrish
The Whippet baseball team (10-3, RVC 10-2) fell to 6th ranked Beloit Turner (11-2, RVC 11-2) by a final score of 11-8. The loss knocked Whitewater out of a 1stplace tie with Jefferson (RVC 11-1), as Jefferson defeated McFarland. With most teams having 5 – 6 conference games left over the next two weeks the race for the conference title is still up for grabs.
Beloit Turner was able to jump on the Whippets early by scoring 2 runs in the first and 6 more in the second for an early 8-0 lead. Whitewater would answer in the bottom of the 2nd as Cooper Pease doubled with 1 out. Hunter Martin singled scoring Pease and Alex Fero singled scoring Martin. James Dedrick, then, doubled to make the score 8-3 with the inning would end on the base paths. The Whippets answered again in the 4th as Bryce Parrish led off with a double and Jimmy Duval walked. After a failed sacrifice bunt attempt the led to a force out at 3rd, Hunter Martin singled scoring Duval making it 8-4 as the Whippets squandered some opportunities for a potential big inning. The Turner Trojans answered the call by adding 3 more in the 5th inning to make it 11-4 but the Whippets were not done yet. Alex Fero led off the 6th with a double, James Dedrick singled and Dylan Pease loaded the bases. Jimmy Duval would walk with 1 out forcing in a run and Jordan Curtis would single scoring 2 more to make it 11-7. Cooper Pease fouled out down the right-field line but Jimmy Duval tagged up on the play with some heads-up base running and made it 11-8. Unfortunately, the rally would stop there as the Whippets stranded 9 baserunners on the evening. James Dedrick led the hitting by going 2 for4 with a double and 1 RBI, Cooper Pease 2 for 4 with a double and 1 RBI, Hunter Martin 2 for 4 with 2 RBI’s, and Alex Fero 2 for 4, with a double and 1 RBI. Whitewater would get 11 hits on the night and had a number of chances to add to the run total. James Dedrick took the loss and Hunter Martin threw 5.1 innings in relief. Coach Pease felt we had some good chances at the plate and we squared a few balls to give us a chance but we needed to pitch better. The Whippets gave up 7 walks and 4 hit batters, which is uncharacteristic of Whippet Baseball. It is difficult to overcome that many free passes to a good team, and Turner must be given credit for coming out and taking advantage of it.
With a lot of games left, the team will need to bounce back on Thursday. The Whippets will travel to Beloit Turner for the second part of the home and home. First pitch is 4:45 at Beloit Turner High School.
