Pioneer power cooks Cavs: WCHS homers key in first district win
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Zach Pelham belted a solo home run, and Glenn Rogers hit his fourth roundtripper of the year to help propel WCHS to a 5-3 win over visiting Cookeville.
With the win, Warren County improved to 4-1 overall, and 1-0 in District 7-AAA play. Cookeville dropped to 8-3.
“We just came out and hit the ball,” said Rogers, whose two-run blast in the fifth inning broke a 2-2 tie. “Our defense kind of struggled the first few innings, but we pounded it out.
“As long as we keep hitting the ball, the defense will catch up with us, and we’ll be hard to beat.”
The Pioneers committed a pair of costly errors early, allowing Cookeville to take a 2-0 lead on unearned runs in each of the first two innings. WCHS coach Jimmy Walker said the defensive miscues were the kind of mistakes that can be corrected with more practice time.
“We just need to play,” he said. “We’ve got to get these defensive kinks worked out.
“We dropped some fly balls, and lost a ground ball or two, but that’s going to happen when you haven’t played. So just getting to play will help us play consistently.”
Down 2-0 with one out in the second, Pelham put the Pioneers on the board, launching the first pitch he saw from Cookeville starter Jeremy Jones over the left-field wall.
Warren County tied the game at 2-2 in the first inning, as Derek Kennamer reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second then got out of a pickle to advance to third.
Shortstop Matt Brown attempted a squeeze bunt, but a low pitch from Jones went to the backstop, allowing Kennamer to score and Brown to move all the way to second on the third-strike wile pitch.
Brown’s heads-up baserunning paid off, as he scored from second on Rogers’ long homer to right.
Cookeville’s Chad Maddox provided the Cavaliers’ only earned run of the game, connecting for a two-out solo home run in the sixth.
Maddox was the final batter faced by WCHS starter Ryan Vincion, who picked up the win by scattering six hits over 5 2/3 innings, fanning four batters in the process, before a blister on one of his fingers took him out of the game.
Nicholas Robinson came on to relieve Vincion, and struck out all four batters he faced to record the save.
“We swung the bats tonight, and Ryan Vincion threw a good ballgame, then Nick came in and closed the door,” Walker said. “I’m tickled, because Cookeville’s a good ball team.
“Coach Kennedy comes from a good program, and does a good job. They’re a sound baseball team, so this was a good win for us.”
The Pioneers added an insurance run in the sixth, when Tyler Herriman scored from third on a bases-loaded wild pitch.
Herriman was running for catcher Daniel Owens, who singled with one out in the inning.
Owens and Rogers both finished 2-for-3, with Brown, Pelham, Scott Dunham and Nathan Cantrell also picking up hits for WCHS.
The Pioneers have a busy weekend ahead at the Riverdale tournament in Murfreesboro, which began with Thursday’s afternoon matchup with Mt. Juliet.
WCHS takes on Forrest today at 9 a.m., and comes back for a 2 p.m. matchup with Lincoln County before concluding the tourney Saturday at 9 a.m. against Beech.