Ooltewah left-hander Trevor Wiggs threw a complete game and finished strong Monday night as the Owls beat Cleveland, 7-6, in District 5-3A baseball action at A.C. "Bud" Ball Field.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Ooltewah took advantage of multiple errors and wild pitches for three first-inning runs off Cleveland pitching ace Camden Sewell and went on to post a 7-6 District 5-3A baseball victory over the Blue Raiders on a blustery, cold Monday night at A.C. “Bud” Ball Field.
The Owls (5-3, 1-2) capitalized on two Cleveland errors and scored three runs in the first inning on Sewell wild pitches.
Sewell (2-1) also accounted for one of the errors with an errant pickoff throw to first.
“Cleveland gift-wrapped us some runs early on wild pitches and different things,” Ooltewah coach Brian Hitchcox said. “We got people on base and took advantage of that.”
With one out in the first, Ooltewah’s Jake Sullivan singled to left and went to third when Andrew Manning reached on third baseman Kley McGowan’s throwing error. Manning wound up at second. Sewell’s first wild pitch scored Sullivan. Manning came home on the second. Wiggs singled and pinch-runner Jack Sloan, who went from first to third on Sewell’s errant pickoff throw, scored on the third wild pitch.
All three runs were unearned.
“It was an odd ballgame,” Cleveland coach Preston Scoggins said. “Camden just had one of those nights when he didn’t have his best stuff. We put a lot on the guy and expect a lot from him, but at the same time we have to do things behind him when he’s not at his best and try to win the game.”
Ooltewah pushed its lead to 4-0 in the second, despite Sewell striking out three batters.
Payton Keiser led off with a single to center and went to second on Sewell’s fourth wild pitch. Kaben Bragg walked. Caleb Huskin’s single to left scored Keiser. Sewell struck out Andy Reed for the first of three times and hit Sullivan. He fanned Manning and Wiggs to end the threat.
Wiggs, Ooltewah’s mound stalwart, pitched a complete game and retired Cleveland in order in the seventh, ignoring a wind chill of 46, to nail down the win. He gave up seven hits and struck out five.
"I just went out there and tried to hit my spots," Wiggs said. "It feels good to get the win and we have to keep it going (Tuesday)."
The left-hander limited Cleveland to one hit – Kelley Cawood’s single leading off the game – and no runs over three innings.
Sewell started the Raiders’ fourth with an infield hit and Wiggs struck out McGowan. Clark Lockerby singled Sewell to third. Moments later, Huskin, the Owls’ catcher, threw to second trying to get Lockerby stealing, second baseman Bragg failed to make the catch and Sewell jogged home with the first run.
Alex Ventura singled to right-center and Lockerby moved to third. Again, the Raiders pressured the Owls’ defense when Ventura stole third, Huskin’s throw to second was off the mark and Lockerby scored. Ventura came home on Johnson’s groundout.
“You’re not going to get many chances against (Sewell), but we got those early runs and you think if we play solid defense, with the way Wiggs has been throwing, you feel good about it,” Hitchcox said. “Then we give them some runs back. There are some things defensively we need to work on.”
Ventura relieved Sewell to start the fourth inning and hit Sullivan, but was wiped out on Manning’s fielder’s choice.
The Blue Raiders (5-6, 2-2) got to Wiggs for three runs in the fourth inning, two scoring on the Owls’ only two errors in the game. First baseman Cole Johnson drove in the other run with an infield groundout. Wiggs’ single pushed Manning to second and Tyler Phillips’ forced Sloan, again running for Wiggs at second and Manning wound up at third. He scored when Phillips uncorked the Blue Raiders’ fifth wild pitch.
Cleveland scratched for a fourth run in the fifth when Will Hentz walked, stole second, went to third on Cawood’s hit and scored when the Raiders pulled off a double steal.
“Our major focus this year in practice has been running the bases,” Scoggins said. “We try to exploit the other team; they have to throw and catch it just like we do. If we can pressure them on the basepaths, make them throw and catch it, we’ll take our chances.”
The Owls extended their lead to 7-4 in the sixth when Keiser reached on an error and later scored on another Cleveland miscue. Bragg reached on a bunt and put up Ooltewah’s final run by scoring on Reed’s fielder’s choice.
Wiggs struck out Hentz to start the seventh. Cawood lined a shot to right field, but Bryce Matthews made the catch while going to one knee and Bruce Witt grounded out to end the game.
“We had a guy warming up in the bullpen for two innings,” Hitchcox said. “Right there at the end, we would have pulled Wiggs if Cleveland got one base runner. He was at 90 to 93 pitches starting the seventh and had pitched around a lot of things going on around him. He’s just not fazed by anything and we gave him a shot to finish the game.”
The two teams continue the home-and-home series on Tuesday at Cleveland High School. Game time is 7 p.m.
Linescore
Cleveland 000 312 0 – 6 7 4
Ooltewah 310 120 x – 7 7 3
Sewell, Ventura (4) and Jones; Wiggs and Huskin.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)
Cleveland pitching ace Camden Sewell makes a delivery against Ooltewah on Monday in a district game on the Owls' home field. Sewell gave up three unearned runs in the first inning that included three wild pitches and two Blue Raiders errors. Ooltewah won, 7-6.
photo by Dennis Norwood