Strong pitching and defense combined with timely hitting continues to be the recipe for success for Columbia as the Wildcats picked up two more wins last week.
With a six-run first inning and a four-run third inning, the Wildcats (9-4, 0-1) were able to make quick work of Lumberton March 8 with a 12-2 victory.
Eli Lowery (two doubles), Jackson Carney and Hayden Adkins led the Columbia offense with 2 RBI each, while Collin Haney (triple), Dylan Wallace (two singles) and Tucker Lucas (single) all drove in a run. Despite issuing five walks and throwing 113 pitches, Luke Stogner was superb to earn a complete-game victory. The lanky right hander gave up just one hit and two unearned runs while fanning nine batters.
Columbia kept the momentum rolling Saturday at John P. Sapen Field, beating Perry Central 4-1 as five Wildcats combined to give up just three hits and strike out 10. Wallace and Sam Carney each struck out three while throwing two shutout innings, and Dylan Broom also tossed two shutout innings with two strikeouts. Haney shut the door in the seventh, striking out the final two batters in just pitches.
Wallace led the way at the plate, ripping a run-scoring triple, as the leadoff hitter continues his breakout season offensively. Haney, who is in the midst of a breakout season in his own right, lined two singles and scored twice. Connor Cox and Naji Cain rounded out the offense with RBI singles.
However, Columbia’s good fortune came to an end Monday night as the Wildcats began Region 7-4A play. Wallace and the Wildcats pitching staff was absolutely brilliant on the mound, allowing just two hits, but Forrest County AHS limited Columbia to just three hits to come away with a 3-1 victory.
It wasn’t that Columbia’s bats just went cold or failed in any way. Aggies starting pitcher Myles Green, who has pitched to a 0.82 ERA this season, was just that good. While Green wasn’t blowing it by Columbia’s hitters with an overpowering fastball, he did an excellent job getting ahead of hitters by painting the corners and mixing in his off-speed pitches. He had everything working for him and never allowed the Wildcats to have a comfortable at-bat.
Despite Green’s stellar performance (seven one-run innings with eight strikeouts), Columbia was in the game until the very end. In fact, the game was knotted 1-1 going into the seventh inning because Wallace, once again, threw a gem himself. Although he ran into trouble in the third inning, walking three batters and hitting another, Wallace settled back in to strike out 12 batters and give up just one hit in 6 1/3 innings.
But in the top of the seventh inning, the Aggies finally broke through. Wallace hit the first batter he faced, who advanced to second base on a bunt. Cox then came in to replace Wallace and allowed a single to advance the runner to third. However, Cox got the next batter to hit a ground ball to Cain, who threw the runner out at home. The Wildcats then turned to Haney on the mound, needing just one more out to end the threat, but things got whacky. With runners on second and third, the Aggies managed to score two runs on a wild pitch to take a 3-1 lead. Columbia then went down in order in the bottom of the seventh to end the game.
Columbia will play Forrest County AHS on the road in a rematch Friday before playing host to St. Patrick Saturday and Sumrall Tuesday.
UPDATE: Friday's game against Forrest County AHS was moved up to Thursday, and the Wildcats won 11-6 thanks to two Eli Lowery home runs.
