If anything, the East Webster baseball team is going to be prepared for Class 2A, Region 2 play in a week.
The Wolverines have opened the season with talented non-conference squads on the schedule each week and that didn’t stop last week. After garnering a win against Oak Hill Academy on the road to begin the week, the Wolverines took on two state championship competitors in bigger classifications and came up short against Caledonia and Germantown.
It’s all part of the plan that coach Jordan Smith put in place to challenge his team to be competitive against top teams. While the latter two games didn’t turn out how he’d like them to, he believes his team will be stronger for it.
“We played two phenomenal teams and saw two of their better pitchers. Caledonia threw a kid that was mid 80s and Germantown threw a lefthander that was throwing upper 80s," Smith said. "When you play really good teams, they show you exactly what you need to work on and the disappointing thing is we just beat ourselves. We didn’t play clean, fundamental baseball and that was the frustrating thing.”
Earlier in the week, EWHS did get a big win against a solid Oak Hill Academy team from the MAIS. Nine walks in an inning and seven runs helped the Wolverines come from behind to get the 12-7 win.
It was a game that wasn’t the prettiest for the Wolverines, but Smith certainly said he would take it postgame. The coach was proud of how his players kept their poise after a nearly deficit.
“They were keeping us off balance early in the game and we just had to be patient and battle at the plate. I’m proud of the guys for doing that,” Smith said. “We are growing, we are maturing as a team and these kids have some fight in them. I’m a firm believer that some of these games against quality opponents have prepared us for (Tuesday).”
On the flipside of the coin, the sixth inning was one to forget for the Raiders. The pitching staff walked nine batters and the Wolverines never put the ball in play in a seven-run inning. It took a 6-3 lead away from Oak Hill and by the end of the frame had the Wolverines on to 10-6. That would be all that they needed.
EWHS did hit the ball in the game as well. One of the lone seniors, Gavin Edwards, went 3-for-4 with a team-high three RBI. Anthony Medine was 2-for-3 with an RBI and two walks and Luke McKee had a hit and three walks in the ball game.
Medine pitched in the game as well as he threw 4.0 innings, scattered five hits, gave up three runs with one earned, walked two batters and struck out four.
Early in the game, the Raiders put the pressure on Medine and the EWHS defense with a2-0 start. That lead grew to 3-0 after a couple of walks and an RBI single extended it.
The Wolverines would chip away in the game scoring a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth on a two-out, two-run single by Edwards. Jesse Roberts took over on the mound from there and Oak Hill would get those runs back immediately and take the 6-3 lead.
Smith stayed with Roberts on the mound to finish out that frame and he would throw the next two innings as well. Despite the tough start, he closed the game with five strikeouts in 3.0 innings and sealed the win.
“Ihad confidence in him. He’s our guy and as a team we believe in each other,” Smith said. “He picked up command on some pitches, settled down and attacked them,” Smith said “He trusted his defense to make some plays behind him.”
On Friday, the Wolverines came back home and had a toughsetback to Caledonia 13-1. The Cavaliers have been dominant on the season now at 6-0 and they continue to be one of the teams to watch in Class 4A. Saturday saw EWHS travel to Germantown and drop a 16-0 decision to the Mavericks who are one of the tougher teams in 6A.
Those two losses moved the Wolverines to 6-5 on the young season with some good and some bad to discuss during spring break. One thing that Smith wanted to do was allow his team to recharge the batteries this week. He told them to go fishing and hunting and take a load off before the real season begins.
“The kids kind of looked like they needed a breath of fresh air,” Smith said. “We gave them a few days off, come back and play again and get ready for division. I think the speed of the game will be a lot slower whenever we play in a couple of weeks. We’ve played some good baseball at times and some bad baseball. I think we’re getting better and learning.”
The team will get back on the field and practice on Thursday before returning to the field at home against West Lauderdale on Friday at 2p.m. Saturday they will host West Point with a 5 p.m. varsity matchup.
