Looking back at the week that was schedule wise for East Webster baseball, there’s three losses in four games.
But for coach Jordan Smith, the team learned a lot about itself by taking on New Hope, Starkville, Nanih Waiya and Choctaw County. It was a gauntlet of ball games against great programs with several state championship signs on their own respective fields. To come out of it 1-3 was disappointing in a sense with the opportunity for a couple of more wins, but Smith thought his team grew up.
“(The schedule) is preparing you for the bigger picture. When you play good teams, you find out about your team. I think, more than anything, we’re going to be seasoned,” Smith said. “As we found out (Saturday), you see what you need to work on and we expect to clean it up and be prepared for division play.”
The Wolverines lost the first game of the week at New Hope in a 1-0 affair on Tuesday evening as EWHS pitching gave up just one run and four hits but they also surrendered the game’s only error and New Hope won the staring contest.
Kainan Reed, John Preston Springer, Chandler Hodges and Gray McCarter all combined to throw the game surrendering just the one run and striking out four, but 10 walks were also an issue.
At Starkville on Thursday, the Wolverines couldn’t hold a 3-2 lead in the fourth as they gave up two runs in the bottom of the fourth, a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth to drop the contest against the Yellow Jackets. EWHS had three errors and just four hits as a team and they walked eight more batters with McCarter surrendering five walks in 4.0 innings and five runs, two of which were earned.
Walks were a culprit in the third game of the week as East Webster hosted a round robin tournament starting with Nanih Waiya. The Wolverines jumped out to a 12-4 lead and couldn’t hold on as the Warriors scored 10 runs in the last two innings to come back and beat them late.
Six different pitchers walked 11 total batters including three big walks in the final inning when Nanih Waiya scored six runs to take the lead.
“It all revolves around throwing strikes,” Smith said. “When you walk and hit 10 plus guys, you deserve to lose. We’re hitting the ball well, we’re making plays defensively, we just have to put it all together and finish games. There was a lot of good, but equally there was some bad in there.”
The good was that the Wolverines had their best offensive day of the year against a team that won back-to-back state championships in 2017 and 2018 and came within a game of going back last year. Cameron Pilgrim had three hits and five RBI in the win with two doubles, Wes Silver also had three hits and Gavin Edwards added two.
The week didn’t end on a sour note, however. The Wolverines got a big win against Class 3A Choctaw County in the afternoon ball game of the tournament. After CCHS had beaten Nanih Waiya earlier in the day, the Wolverines got a 4-1 lead in the second inning and this time they held on for the victory. Jesse Roberts had two of the team’s three hits as the bats weren’t as loud in this game but the Wolverines walked six times.
On the mound, Smith saw Hodges throw 4.0 innings, give up one hit, one earned run and strike out three batters. Anthony Medine threw the final 3.0 innings and he had an unearned run with six strikeouts.
Inclement weather kept the Wolverines from keeping that momentum going early in the week as the game against Houston was cancelled on Monday night. They’re still hoping to get in games at home against French Camp and Tupelo Christian Preparatory School on Thursday and Friday respectively.
