Westchester baseball falls in extras against Wayne
Michael Lindsay | Enterprise Sports Writer
HIGH POINT – Westchester Country Day put itself in position for a big win. But Wayne Country Day instead outmaneuvered it at the last moment.
The Wildcats led into the bottom of the seventh. But the Chargers scored in each of the final two innings to defeat Westchester 4-3 in eight innings on a rainy midday matchup Saturday at High Point University’s Williard Stadium.
“I thought we played well – there’s a reason why those guys are so good,” Westchester coach Rob Woodall said. “You’re going to be in a tight game with them every time. They do everything really, really well. Their pitching, hitting and defense is just spot-on. They have a tremendous program over there.
“We were working on a few things in practice leading up to this, and everything we were working on they executed today. So, I was really proud of them from that standpoint. It’s just a really good baseball game. I hate that somebody had to lose that kind of game, but that’s what it was.”
Tate Vogler had two hits and two RBIs to lead the Wildcats (4-3), who upset Wayne Christian in last year’s semifinals to reach the NCISAA 2A championship series. Josh Hammond also had two hits, including a double, and an RBI.
Caleb Hammond, a senior outfielder who is also a High Point University recruit, added a double as Westchester scored three straight runs in the middle innings to rally from a two-run deficit and led by a run heading to the sixth.
But the Chargers – led by Davis Albert, who doubled, and Sterling Bass with a hit and an RBI each – scratched across a run in the seventh to tie the game and another in the eight to pull ahead, scoring each run without a hit.
Wayne Christian (8-4), which won the state championship in 2021, led off the sixth with a walk and scored the run on a groundout and reached in the seventh with a hit-by-pitch and plated the run on a wild pitch.
Tate Volger took the loss in relief. He took over in the seventh for Ryan Engle, who pitched well in relief of Josh Hammond. Josh Hammond, a sophomore right-hander who is also a Wake Forest recruit, struck out five in four innings.
Braeden Collins picked up the win, pitching two hitless innings.
The Wildcats, after trailing 2-0 in the second, answered with two runs in the third – highlighted by a two-run single by Vogler – and pulled ahead with an RBI single by Josh Hammond in the fifth. That gave Westchester a 3-2 lead, which it held into the seventh.
The response was good after falling behind, Woodall said.
“It was huge – we talked about just being able to trust the guy behind you,” he said. “And even if you do mess up, the guy behind you has your back. And they showed that with their at-bats and even with their pitching and out in the field.
“We talked a lot about that this week leading up to this and we executed everything we talked about. So I can’t be upset with what they did from that standpoint.”
The Chargers put two on with no outs in the seventh, however, moving the runners over and eventually scoring on a one-out groundout, and again put the leadoff runner on in the seventh, moving him over and scoring on a pair of pitches to the backstop.
Westchester, which put a runner on base with two out in the seventh, just couldn’t answer. But it’s the kind of position the Wildcats want to be in and learn from as they head into the heart of PTAC play and eventually into the NCISAA 2A playoffs.
“I hope we do,” Woodall said of the possibility of facing Wayne again later in the season. “I want to play those guys again for sure. We continue to challenge and make ourselves better on a daily basis.
“And that’s what this game basically shows us. If we do that, then we’re going to be able to play with a lot of really good teams. We’ve got a tough road coming up – we’ve got our conference play coming up and a lot of 3A and 4A teams coming at us.
“From a challenge standpoint they’ve got to take it head-on and these guys like to do that.”
WAYNE COUNTRY DAY 4, WESTCHESTER COUNTRY DAY 3
WAYNE 020 000 11 – 4 5 0
WESTCHESTER 002 010 00 – 3 5 1
WP – Collins (2IP, 3K, 1BB, 0H, 0R); LP – Vogler (2IP, 1K, 0H, 1R, 2WP, HBP)
Leading hitters: Wayne – Davis (1-3, 2B, RBI), Bass (1-3, RBI), G. Johnson (1-3, 2B), Collins (2-3) ; Westchester – J. Hammond (2-3, 2B, RBI), Vogler (2-4, 2RBI), C. Hammond (1-3, 2B)
Michael Lindsay | Enterprise Sports Writer
HIGH POINT – Westchester Country Day put itself in position for a big win. But Wayne Country Day instead outmaneuvered it at the last moment.
The Wildcats led into the bottom of the seventh. But the Chargers scored in each of the final two innings to defeat Westchester 4-3 in eight innings on a rainy midday matchup Saturday at High Point University’s Williard Stadium.
“I thought we played well – there’s a reason why those guys are so good,” Westchester coach Rob Woodall said. “You’re going to be in a tight game with them every time. They do everything really, really well. Their pitching, hitting and defense is just spot-on. They have a tremendous program over there.
“We were working on a few things in practice leading up to this, and everything we were working on they executed today. So, I was really proud of them from that standpoint. It’s just a really good baseball game. I hate that somebody had to lose that kind of game, but that’s what it was.”
Tate Vogler had two hits and two RBIs to lead the Wildcats (4-3), who upset Wayne Christian in last year’s semifinals to reach the NCISAA 2A championship series. Josh Hammond also had two hits, including a double, and an RBI.
Caleb Hammond, a senior outfielder who is also a High Point University recruit, added a double as Westchester scored three straight runs in the middle innings to rally from a two-run deficit and led by a run heading to the sixth.
But the Chargers – led by Davis Albert, who doubled, and Sterling Bass with a hit and an RBI each – scratched across a run in the seventh to tie the game and another in the eight to pull ahead, scoring each run without a hit.
Wayne Christian (8-4), which won the state championship in 2021, led off the sixth with a walk and scored the run on a groundout and reached in the seventh with a hit-by-pitch and plated the run on a wild pitch.
Tate Volger took the loss in relief. He took over in the seventh for Ryan Engle, who pitched well in relief of Josh Hammond. Josh Hammond, a sophomore right-hander who is also a Wake Forest recruit, struck out five in four innings.
Braeden Collins picked up the win, pitching two hitless innings.
The Wildcats, after trailing 2-0 in the second, answered with two runs in the third – highlighted by a two-run single by Vogler – and pulled ahead with an RBI single by Josh Hammond in the fifth. That gave Westchester a 3-2 lead, which it held into the seventh.
The response was good after falling behind, Woodall said.
“It was huge – we talked about just being able to trust the guy behind you,” he said. “And even if you do mess up, the guy behind you has your back. And they showed that with their at-bats and even with their pitching and out in the field.
“We talked a lot about that this week leading up to this and we executed everything we talked about. So I can’t be upset with what they did from that standpoint.”
The Chargers put two on with no outs in the seventh, however, moving the runners over and eventually scoring on a one-out groundout, and again put the leadoff runner on in the seventh, moving him over and scoring on a pair of pitches to the backstop.
Westchester, which put a runner on base with two out in the seventh, just couldn’t answer. But it’s the kind of position the Wildcats want to be in and learn from as they head into the heart of PTAC play and eventually into the NCISAA 2A playoffs.
“I hope we do,” Woodall said of the possibility of facing Wayne again later in the season. “I want to play those guys again for sure. We continue to challenge and make ourselves better on a daily basis.
“And that’s what this game basically shows us. If we do that, then we’re going to be able to play with a lot of really good teams. We’ve got a tough road coming up – we’ve got our conference play coming up and a lot of 3A and 4A teams coming at us.
“From a challenge standpoint they’ve got to take it head-on and these guys like to do that.”
WAYNE COUNTRY DAY 4, WESTCHESTER COUNTRY DAY 3
WAYNE 020 000 11 – 4 5 0
WESTCHESTER 002 010 00 – 3 5 1
WP – Collins (2IP, 3K, 1BB, 0H, 0R); LP – Vogler (2IP, 1K, 0H, 1R, 2WP, HBP)
Leading hitters: Wayne – Davis (1-3, 2B, RBI), Bass (1-3, RBI), G. Johnson (1-3, 2B), Collins (2-3) ; Westchester – J. Hammond (2-3, 2B, RBI), Vogler (2-4, 2RBI), C. Hammond (1-3, 2B)