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Bobcats pull out close game against Westover
In the first inning, pitcher Antonio Williams gave up only one hit, a single, but walked four batters to give up two unearned runs. The Cats' first two batters reached base on a hit by the pitcher and a walk, but three consecutive outs ended in a scoreless inning. Williams found his groove by the second inning and continued to pitch a smart game with a breaking ball that baffled the Westover batters. Between Williams' pitching and a solid defense, all three of Westover's batters were retired quickly in the top of the second, and the Cats had the opportunity to come back in the bottom of the inning to score one run with two singles from Williams and Justin Brooks. Westover was unable to advance their lead in inning three in spite of two singles off Williams and two batters who advanced to first on shortstop throwing errors. Williams racked up two strikeouts and a fielder's choice to retire the Patriots with no additional runs. If the third inning was a let down for the Patriots, it proved to be the momentum for the Cats' offense as they hammered the ball and moved through all but one in their batting order. Dionus Bryant reached first after being hit by the pitch, stole second, and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from Coleman Wehrley. Emmanuel Taylor's single put two on before Sean Williams hit a towering 380 foot homerun over the left field fence to score three more for Early and give them the lead for the first time in the game. Adam Crozier's single followed, but the Cats' scoring drive was cut short with two fly balls to left and right fields. The Bobcats' defense remained solid in inning four with no hits allowed and two strikeouts. Two bases on balls were left stranded, while the Cats were able to put one more run on the board in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single from Taylor. Although the Patriots didn't get a hit in the top of the fifth, they did manage to put their second run on the board after two walks and an error. With the Cats scoreless in the bottom of the inning, Westover's hope of a comeback was within reach, after a lead off double in inning six that scored behind a single and a sacrifice bunt. Leading by a single run, the Cats scored their own lead off batter on a Clint Bruner triple followed by Wehrley's sacrifice bunt. The top of the seventh became a nailbiter when relief pitcher Mitch Johns followed his first strikeout by giving up a double to left field. With a runner in scoring position and their lead threatened, Johns found his zone and retired the next two batters on fly outs, ending the game with the Cats ahead by two runs. The win gives the Cats a 7-3 record in games played and a 2-3 region record.
Bryant leads the Cats at the plate with a .500 batting average, 8 hits, 9 runs and 3 RBI's. Taylor, with a .440 batting average, leads in scoring with 11 hits, 10 RBI's and 8 runs. Four of Taylor's hits have been doubles, one a triple and one homerun. Antonio Williams, with an average of .429, has 6 hits, 5 RBI's and 4 runs. The Cats team average stands at .337 with 45 RBI's, 60 runs, 63 hits and 35 stolen bases.Their pitching staff has 54 strikeouts.
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