Weston may be going to the “Field of Dreams” later in the season but their start over the first seven games is almost beyond the realm of reality. Six games against schools from Class 2A and above, equals seven wins with all the games have been called early due to the “mercy rule”
The first four games were won by shutout before the Wolves gave up one run and one hit against Delhi Charter in the 11-1 Weston win this past Thursday in the opener of the Downsville Tourney. Then the Wolves pitching staff threw two more shutouts to go 3-0 in tourney play.
Six shutouts in seven games and oh by the way, the one run that Delhi Charter scored was unearned. To add to the incredibility of the Wolves pitching prowess is the fact that four times Weston has no-hit their opponent. In two others, they allowed just one hit. Jonesboro-Hodge just thought they struggled at the plate against Weston in the season opener when they got two hits, but it is the best showing an offense has had all year long against the Wolves.
In back-to-back days this past Monday and Tuesday, Weston no-hit Class 4A, Woodlawn-Shreve for a three inning 19-0 victory. That was followed up with a pair of 15-0, no-hit victories over Class 3A, Carrol out of Monroe. The Wolves then skunked Class 2A Delhi Charter in the opener before no-hitting Woodlawn again by an 11-0 count and then one-hitting Downsville in a 20-0 shellacking.
Conventional wisdom would say that first year head coach Joey Kemp must have inherited one of those “special” aces who throws every game, right? WRONG! The incredible pitching feat, that includes what is believed to be a Jackson Parish record of a team throwing three straight no-hitters, has been accomplished with SIX hurlers taking part.
The pitching stat line looks like this
Caleb Waters (2-0) – 9 innings pitched, 13 K’s, 3 hits, 0 earned runs
Kaden Shirley (1-0) – 5 innings pitched, 8 K’s, 1 hit, 0 earned runs
Cooper Delaney (2-0) – 4 innings pitches, 10 K’s, 0 hits, 0 earned runs
Tait Henderson (1-0) – 1 innings pitched, 3 K’s, 0 hits, 0 earned runs
Tayt Culpepper (1-0) – 1 inning pitched, 2 K’s, 0 hits, 0 earned runs
Layton Garrett (0-0) – 1 inning pitched, 3 K’s, 0 hits, 0 earned runs
Offensively the Wolves have been just as impressive as they have totaled 106 runs for a 15.14 runs per game average which broken down even further tabulates out to be 4.167 runs per innings. WOW!
Jonesboro-Hodge just thought they did poorly at the plate against Weston pitching when they gathered two meaningless singles in the Wolves season opening 15-0 victory. In back-to-back days this past Monday and Tuesday, Weston no-hit Class 4A, Woodlawn-Shreve for a three inning 19-0 victory. That was followed up with a pair of 15-0, no-hit victories over Class 3A, Carrol out of Monroe. The Wolves then skunked Class 2A Delhi Charter in the opener before no-hitting Woodlawn again by an 11-0 count and then one-hitting Downsville in a 20-0 shellacking.
Offensively the Wolves have been just as impressive as they have totaled 106 runs for a 15.14 runs per game average. Broken down even further that tabulates out to be 4.82 runs per inning. WOW! Davis Tolar (shown above) leads the hit parade with a .750 batting average that includes a double, triple, two home runs, 11 runs scored and a team leading 15 RBI. Just behind is Caleb Waters with a .615 batting average and a team leading 3 homers, two triples, a double and five stolen bases that has accounted for 13 RBI and a team tying best, 15 runs scored.
Braden Theriot checks in next at a .545 clip with 2 doubles, 1 homerun, 12 runs scored, 6 stolen bases and 7 RBI, followed by Kaden Shirley who is batting an even .500 with two doubles, six runs scored, 3 stolen bases and nine RBI. The remaining 11 players on the roster have all contributed as well as shown.
Cooper Delaney (.462, 2-2B, 4 SB, 6 RS, 9 RBI)
Bryce Zehr (.429, 2-2B, 3B, HR, 2 SB, 6 RBI, 8 RS)
Drew Browning (.417, 3-2B, 2 SB, 6 RS, 7 RBI)
Tait Henderson (.308, 2B, 15 RS, 4 RBI, 7 SB)
Cole Tolar (.286, 5 RBI, 5 RS, 4 SB)
Colton Blundell (.286, 2B, 3 SB, 4 RBI, 7 RS)
Layton Garrett (.250, SB, 2 RBI, 6 RS)
Tayt Culpepper (125, SB, RBI, 3 RS)
Blaine Graham (.000, RBI, 6 RS)
Sawyer Watkins (1/1, 2 SB, 3 RS)
Jacob Gill (0/1)
Weston girls get off to 2-1 start
The Cecilia Akin regime at Weston has gotten off to a good start. By beating Castor twice on Saturday at the Choudrant Tournament after dropping the season opener to Simsboro on Friday the Lady Wolves have won two of the first three games played to open a season for the first times since 2018.
Josie Irvin has gotten off to a good start as well. The junior batted .556 in the three games, accented by a pair of doubles, leading the team in RBI’s and scoring a second highest number of runs. She wasn’t alone. Alaina Trosclair led Weston with a .600 batting average, scored a team best in runs and reached base eight of the ten times she went to the plate, coaxing five free passes and getting three hits in five at bats. Taylor Chatham also had a big weekend as she hit .429 with three hits and got on base four more times via walks. Betty McCarty stole three bases and scored two runs as well.
Simsboro 8 Weston 1: Simsboro pitching limited the Weston offense to just two hits and one run and despite not getting a hit the Lady Tigers scored in all four innings to take the easy victory. Weston got it’s run when Irvin led off the third with a hit, stole second and scored on Lexi Barmore’s single. Ansley Aldy, Barmore and Penelope Ferguson combined to throw the no-hitter, but seven walks and three errors proved to be fatal.
| Weston | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Simsboro | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 1 |
WP – n/a
LP – Aldy (0-1)
RBI – Barmore
SB – Hargrove, Irvin
Weston 11 Castor 1: Weston’s bats heated up in the second game of the tourney for 8 hits that led to four runs in the first, five int he third and two more in the fourth inning. Josie Irvin’s 2/4, 3 RBI performance, that included a double led the offensive onslaught. Taylor Chatham also came up big from her leadoff positions with two hits and two walks and knocking in two runs. Betty McCarty stole three bases and scored two runs as did Lexi Barmore and McKenzie Hargrove. Penelope Feguson threw five innings of one hit ball and gave up no earned runs to grab the victory.
| Castor | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Weston | 4 | 0 | 5 | 2 | x | 11 | 8 | 3 |
WP – Ferguson (1-0)
LP – n/a
2B – Irvin
RBI – Irvin 3, Chatham 2, Hay, Ledford, Trosclair
SB – McCarty 3, Barmore
Weston 6 Castor 5: The Lady Wolves rallied from a 5-4 deficit with a run in the sixth and another in the seventh to take the second win of the day over Castor in the contest that saw the two teams combine for 11 errors. After Castor had scored three in the bottom of the fifth take the lead Gracie Mudge alertly ended up on second base when her fly ball was misplayed by the Castor first baseman mishandled. McKenzie Hargrove then doubled to tie the score. Castor went three up and three down in the bottom half of the inning thanks to a double play started by shortstop Alaina Trosclair. After making the stellar play in the field, Trosclair then coaxed a two out walk and scored on a hard hit grounder to short by Jacie Ledford that was ruled an error. Emma Kate McBride, who threw a complete game four hitter, with only one earned run allowed, shut down Castor in order to preserve the win.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| Weston | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 6 |
| Castor | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
WP – McBride (1-0)_
LP – n/a
2B – Hargrove, Irvin
3B – Ledford
RBI- Ledford 2, Hargrove, McBride, Trosclair
SB – Chatham, Hay, Trosclair
Wolverines win four of five
Class B Quitman continues to play giant killer. This past Saturday, February 26th the Wolverines beat Class 3A, South Beauregard 8-7 and Class 2A, Pickering 11-0 in the Many Tournament. Then on Friday and Saturday they beat Class 4A Grant 14-1 and Class 2A Buckeye. Sandwiched in between was a 8-7 loss to Grant this past Tuesday.
Quitman won the first two on the strength of two stellar pitching performances and an outstanding offensive attack. Ian Tilley threw a no-hitter over five innings against Pickering to win the tourney opener and Ty Simonelli pitched six strong innings to stake the Wolverines to an 8-1 lead over South Beauregard before tiring in the seventh to beat South Beauregard.
Logan Ponder was the offensive catalyst in tourney going 4/6 and getting three free passes while scoring five runs. Simonelli and Luke Morgan reached base five times over the two games with identical batting lines of one hit, two walks, getting hit by a pitch twice, stealing two bases and scoring three runs. Tilley rounded first four times on two hits and a pair of walks and two RBI followed by Cam Deal who got two hits, scored a run and knocked one in. Cam Hollis and Blake Carter scored twice as did Bryan Lay. Riley Duck walked three times.
After losing to Grant 8-7 on Tuesday, the Wolverines got revenge on Friday and in a big way. The 14-1 margin was the largest of the year to date. Ty Simonelli (3 RBI, 2 RS)), Cam Hollis (3 RS, RBI) and Blake Carter (2 RS, 2 RBI) all got two hits apiece, with Landyn Caskey (2 RS), Riley Duck (RBI) and Logan Ponder (3 RS, 2RBI) getting a hit. Simonelli got the win by tossing two hit ball and striking out 10 for the 5 inning victory.
Against Buckeye Ty Simonelli hit a triple and knocked in four to lead the way to a 12-1 victory. Riley Duck and Kyler West hit doubles and both Luke Morgan and Logan Ponder scored three runs each. Ponder went five innings for the victory
Quitman girls lose three of four
For the fifth straight game Quitman unleashed a ferocious offense attack but suddenly the hits quit falling against improved competition that led to defeat in three of the next four games. Following the 18-8 thrashing of Glenbrook the Lady Wolverines lost their first of the year against Class 5A Ruston by a 7-3 score. Another loss followed by a 4-1 score at the hands of Class 2A Buckeye. Quitman got back on track by beating Class 3A Jena but then fell 18-9 against Class 4A Neville.
Quitman 18 Glenbrook 8: Early on Glenbrook was giving it right back to tie the game at 8-8. Then Quitman’s freshman fireballer, Cali Deal, who was a Class B first team selection last year as an 8th grader, stepped to the circle and that ended that. Conversely Quitman would continue to pound the ball and score ten more runs to win 18-8 and up their record to 5-0. Class A Glenbrook fell to 0-3.
Quitman’s returning first team All-Stater was pitching for the first time this season but looked in midseason form to pick up the win after scattering three hits and striking out six. She also reached base four times with a pair of hits and two walks. Maggie Guyotte paced the Wolverine attack with 3 hits and 3 RBI, with Averie Willams (2 RBI) and Madison Chaplin (2 RS) getting two hit each and Madeline Vail scoring three runs and knocking in two with a home run. Maddie Kaye Brymer, Skylar Hall (2 SB), Karley Huckaby (4 RBI) and Marley Bell (2 RBI) would all score a pair of runs each to round out the attack that accounted for 14 hits and 11 walks against Glenbrook pitching.
Ruston 7 Quitman 3: To all good things must come an end and thusly so did at five the Lady Wolverine season opening winning streak. Class 5A Ruston took advantage of an uncharacteristically wild performance by two Quitman hurlers and for the first time all season the Lady Wolverines had their bats silenced. Ruston jumped out to a 6-2 lead after two innings on a double and triple by A. Holton and C. Wilson made it hold up by allowing just six singles over seven innings. Maggie Guyotte took the loss.
Quitman opened the game with Madeline Vail and Madison Chaplin getting singles. Vail scored on an error by the Ruston catcher with Chaplin coming around just a few pitches later, on a Guyotte groundball. That would be all the runs Quitman could muster until the fifth when Guyotte singled, advanced to third on a throwing error and scored on a passed ball.
Buckeye 4 Quitman 1: After seven innings the score was tied 0-0. Then Buckeye shocked the Lady Wolverines with a three-run homer and scored another run to for the win. Quitman had taken the lead in the top half of the inning when Madison Chaplin drove in Madeline Vail.
Quitman 9 Jena 7: Cali Deal hit a home run and a double to drive in three and pitched seven innings for the win. Karley Huckaby and Averie Williams hit doubles and Madison Chaplin, Maddie Kaye Brymer, Maggie Guyotte all got two hits. Skylar Hall drove in two as well.
Neville 19 Quitman 9: Neville scored 11 runs in the top of the third to rally from an 8-4 deficit and followed that up with three more in the fifth to give Quitman their most lopsided loss of the year. Karley Huckaby hit a home run and Averie Williams, who had three hits, slapped a double as both had 2 RBI. Maggie Guyotte who took the complete game loss also had three hits with Maddie Kaye Brymer, Madison Chaplin and Madeline Vail chipping in with two hits apiece.
Tiger baseballers drop third straight
It went from bad to worse. The losing streak reached three straight after the season opening win for JHHS who fell 13-4 to Montgomery and then 22-1 against Grace Christian out of Alexandria in a contest that lasted just 2 ½ innings.
Montgomery 13 JHHS 4: The Tigers broke out to a 4-1 lead after two innings of play then got overwhelmed as four JHHS hurlers got roughed up for 11 hits, gave up 13 free passes and had 8 bases stolen against them. The defeat overshadowed a great day at the plate by Logan Smith who reached base in all four of his at bats, including getting three hits, one of which was a double. Waylon Evans went 2/3 with a double while Ethan Taylor and Dominick Strickland also had run scoring doubles. Julian Paggett and Jayden Qualles got a hit.
Grace Christian 22 JHHS 1: The road trip to Grace Christian was a long one, the longest on the schedule this year. It felt even longer coming back. That is because it took longer to get there than it did to play the game that lasted only 2 ½ innings before being called per the “mercy rule”.
For the second straight game the Tigers broke on top as Marcus Thompson walked, stole second and scampered home on Dominick Strickland’s single. Then the bottom dropped out. Grace Christian out of district 6B ran their record to 6-1 after sending 21 batters to the plate and scored 17 runs in the bottom of the first inning. Everybody in the GC lineup scored and four tallied twice before the Tigers registered the first out as JHHS pitching gave up 8 hits and walked 9 batters in the frame. Jayden Qualles stroked a double, Logan Smith got a hit and Pierce Ulloa stole two bases for the Tigers.
