Emma Kate McBride pitched a three-hit shutout and Lexi Barmore hit her third home run in three games to lead the way for the 13-0 smashing of Simsboro in the final district contest of the season. The victory was a welcome relief for the Lady Wolves, who improved to 4-11 on the year, as it put an end to their ten-game losing streak and lifted Weston out of the 2B cellar, which they had shared with the Lady Tigers.

You could say the victory was the players wedding gift to first year head coach, Cecilia Akins, who tied the knot last week. (Maybe she should have said I DO” in February) Better yet, you can say the win was a possible building block for the young team. Most of all you can say it showed the tremendous character that the Lady Wolves have.

Character isn’t measured by wins and losses. It is measured by the effort that you see put forth, especially when times are tough. To their credit, even after so many disappointments this season, the Lady Wolves stepped up to play their best game of the year.

McBride easily had her best day “in the circle”, striking out nine and giving up only three meaningless singles. Only once did Simsboro have a runner advance past second base. In the second inning when the Lady Tigers had two on with one out, McBride struck out the next two batters. In the third, Simsboro again had two on with one out and again McBride left them stranded. She followed that up by striking out the side in the fourth.

Offensively, Lexi Barmore continued her torrid late season surge by hitting a home run for the third straight game. Jacie Ledford and Josie Irvin came through with three hits apiece, including a triple and a double respectively. Taylor Chatham also got a hit in her third straight game and a double in her second straight to raise her batting average almost 40 percentage points.

Raelynn Shell and Betty McCarty, a couple of late season additions to the lineup, got a hit and knocked in a run as did Mary Catherine Hay. Lainee Trosclair stole two bases and McBride also helped her cause by getting on base three times and scoring three runs.

Perhaps the most telling statistic of the game was the flawless defense played. Prior to the contest Weston had committed 76 errors for an average of 5.43 per game. On this day, they perfectly fielded all 19 chances.

Truthfully, no one would have lifted an eyebrow if Weston just went through the motions of playing the game. It wouldn’t have been devastating if they had lost. Already, Simsboro had beaten them this year, winning 8-1 in the season opener.

A loss wasn’t going their playoff positioning wasn’t going to change much. They might have dropped a spot or two, but does it really matter if you are fifth from the bottom or third? Either way, you face a top team in the first round on the road. If you win, the situation is still basically the same.

The effort given was noticed and recognized though as it showed the character of the team. It is good to see that display of character get rewarded.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
Weston (4-11, 1-2)	1	6	4	1	1	13	13	0
Simsboro (8-17, 0-3)	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0

WP – McBride
LP – n/a
2B – Chatham, Irvin, McCarty
3B – Ledford
HR – Barmore
RBI – Barmore 3, Ledford 3, Chatham 2, Hay, McCarty, Shell
RS – McBride 3, Shell 2, Irvin 2, Barmore 2, Ledford, Hay, McCarty, Ferguson
SB – Trosclair 2, Irvin 2, Barmore, McBride

Bats stay hot against Delhi Charter

Sometimes all you need is a little spark to get roaring fire started. Weston poured fuel to the fire that burned up their 10-game losing streak the night before by swinging a red hot bat for 11 runs in the first inning that led to a 16-2 roasting of Delhi Charter.

Just how hot a bat did Weston have? The 11 base hits and 11 runs scored in the first were easily the most in one inning this year. So was the 16 batters that stepped to the plate. Even more impressive was that Lexi Barmore, Emma Kate McBride, Taylor Chatham and Jacie Ledford, the first four batters in the Lady Wolves lineup, all had two hits apiece before the second out was made. Another first time event on the year was the base hits by Faith Beamesderfer and Olivia Marsh.

Weston not only hit DC pitching often, they hit them hard. Barmore and Chatham had both registered triples before the Lady Wolves sent the fourth batter to the plate. Betty McCarty added a double later in the inning as did Barmore, giving her two extra base hits in the first innings alone. If a Weston batter did hit a single as McBride and Ledford did twice and Lainee Trosclair along with Josie Irvin did once, it often turned into extra bases via six stolen bases, including Chatham’s steal of home.

The majority of the damage was done by the top of the lineup as Barmore, then McKenzie Hargrove who later subbed for her, McBride, her sub – Ansley Aldy, Chatham and Ledford went a combined 14 for 16, scored nine runs and drove in 11. In all ten players scored and nine drove in runs.

Not to be discounted was the way McBride and Aldy limited Delhi Charter to just two runs with only one being earned and the second straight sound defensive effort put forth by the Lady Wolves who committed only one error.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
Weston (5-11)	11	2	0	1	2	16	20	1
Delhi Charter	2	0	0	0	0	2	7	0

WP – McBride (4-6)
LP – n/a
2B – Barmore, McBride, McCarty
3B – Barmore, Chatham
RBI – Chatham 4, Aldy 2, McBride 2, McCarty 2, Trosclair, Ledford, Irvin, Hargrove, Barmore
RS – Barmore 3, McBride 3, Chatham 2, Beamesderfer 2, Ledford, Trosclair, Roberts, McCarty, Irvin, Shell
SB – Trosclair2, Ledford 2, Chatham, McBride, McCarty

Senior Night Smashing! Wolves surge to top of 2B

Weston honored their three senior’s Caleb Waters, Davis Tolar and Kaden Shirley in grand style. The Wolves slapped 10 hits to whip Simsbor0 11-1 and surge to the top of the district 2B standings.  It was the second victory in three days over their Lincoln Parish foes and lifted the Wolves to 2-0 in 2B play and 15-5 overall.

Unlike the first game between the two where Weston scored 13 in one inning and 8 in another, this time the Wolves methodically beat down the Tigers by scoring runs in all six innings of play. Every batter in the lineup reached base at least once and all but one scored a run or more and knocked one in.

Braden Theriot (RS, RBI) slapped a pair of doubles and Waters (2RS, RBI) got two hits with Kaden Shirley (2 SB) and Davis Tolar (3 RBI, 2 SB) scoring twice. Cooper Delaney (2B), Drew Browning, and Tayt Henderson all got a hit, scored and knocked one in with Tayt Culpepper and Bryce Zehr (RS) reaching base and getting an RBI. Caleb Waters got the victory but lost his bid for Weston’s second straight no-hitter against Simsboro in the top of the 6th inning when a two out shot to left center by Xavier Mosely found safety for a double.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	R	H	E
Simsboro (12-9, 0-2)	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	4
Weston (15-5, 2-0)	2	1	1	1	3	3	11	10	1

WP – Waters
LP – Rabo
2B – Theriot 2, Delaney
RBI – Tolar 3, Culpepper, Delaney, Henderson, Waters, Zehr, Browning, Theriot
RS – Tolar 2, Waters 2, Zehr, Delaney, Browning, Henderson, Theriot
SB – Tolar 2, Shirley 2, Culpepper, Henderson, Waters, Zehr

Late rally comes up short against Winnfield

A last gasp rally attempt by Weston came up just short as the Wolves fell to Winnfield 3-2 on Friday. Down by three the Wolves loaded with one out but after managing to narrow the deficit to just one run failed to get the final runner across to drop to 15-6 on the year. Winnfield improved to 12-11 with the victory.

The loss overshadowed a fine pitching performance by Cooper Delaney who didn’t give up a hit after the second inning and allowed just three over his six innings of work. Winnfield also got a fine effort on the mound from Jacob Whisonant, who picked up the win after five innings of two hit, shutout ball.

Winnfield, ranked 12th in Class AA, struck early when leadoff batter Hunter Tucker opened the home half of the first by reaching on an error and scored on a double off the bat of Compton. Whisonant followed with a one out single to plate Compton. Winnfield upped the lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the 5th after Dyllan Lawson got hit by a pitch, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a Compton sacrifice fly.

A determined effort by the Wolves almost brought them all the way back in the top of the seventh. Drew Browning led off with a single and Braden Theriot got hit by a pitch to open the frame. Kaden Shirley then reached on a one out error to load the bases. Winnfield took the out at second base on Bryce Zehr’s grounder to short but Landon Garret, who was running for Browning scored followed by Theriot scoring on a throwing error on the same play. Compton, who had relieved Whisonant to start the top of the sixth then settled down to get a fly out an earn the save, despite giving up a hit and hitting two batters over the final two frames.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Weston (15-6)	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	3	3
Winnfield (11-10)	2	0	0	0	1	0	x	3	3	2

WP – Whisonant
LP – Delaney
RBI – Zehr
RS – Garrett, Theriot

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