Bobcat Baseball begins 2A South league play, splits both series

Last weekend, White Pine baseball began a stretch of four games in 24 hours with two home doubleheaders.

White Pine welcomed its first 2A South league opponent to Ely in Lincoln County for two games on March 21.

In the first game, seniors Tucker Maestes and Jackson Armstrong combined to throw five innings while allowing five hits, three runs (one earned) and two walks as Armstrong struck out seven hitters to give White Pine a 21-3 victory.

Offensively, White Pine took advantage of six Lincoln County errors to fuel a six-run second and a seven-run third inning to balloon the lead to 16-2 after three innings. That came before White Pine added five more runs in the fifth inning to end the game.

Five players – Armstrong, sophomore Landon Neilson, seniors Dylan Cessford and Maverick Mangum, and junior Daniel Highline – recorded two hits. Highline recorded a triple and a game-high five RBIs to lead the way. Maestes went 1-for-2 at the plate with three runs and two walks.

The second game was a different story as a shootout ensued. White Pine’s seventh-inning comeback rally came up just short. Trailing 16-14, the Bobcats got one run but could not get the second to tie, losing 16-15 to Lincoln County.

Lincoln County scored 10 times in the top of the fourth inning to take a 15-10 lead before White Pine responded with three runs in the bottom half of the fourth.

Both teams then added a run between the fifth and sixth innings.

Sophomore Maddox Sedlacek went 3-for-6 with two runs, three RBIs and a double. Junior Jacob Hall also delivered three RBIs as Maestes and junior Vince Cato both scored three runs. Sophomore Jacob Derbidge got on all five times with two hits and three hit by pitches with two RBIs. Highline and Mangum also had two RBIs offensively.

However, the key that hurt White Pine was their defense, allowing four errors, resulting in nine unearned runs while Hall was pitching. Both Hall and Sedlacek also gave up five walks each while combining to strike out nine hitters.

White Pine had to turn the page quickly as they woke up the next morning for another doubleheader against non-league Wells.

In the first game, White Pine was stymied, mustering just one hit in a 10-0 loss. That was combined by committing four errors in the loss to the Leopards.
In addition, Wells took a 3-0 lead before the Bobcat lineup could see a pitch.

The second game was a different story as White Pine took advantage of eight errors while also having an eight-run first inning, leading to a 10-6 victory.

White Pine added some insurance in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring twice to take a 10-3 lead going into the seventh.

Hall went 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs and two RBIs to lead the offense. Armstrong went 1-for-1 with a walk, a triple and three RBIs.

Because of the lead White Pine had, Cessford went the distance, allowing five hits, two earned runs and a walk while striking seven.

With the win, White Pine moves to 6-5 on the season and 1-1 in 2A South play. The Bobcats are in fourth place and one game back of Lincoln County for third place in the 2A South standings. White Pine is also one game behind Lake Mead and Needles, who are both 2-0.

White Pine will travel to Green Valley Christian this week on March 28 for a doubleheader at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to continue league play before a non-league home game against Elko on April 1 at 2 p.m.