Carmi-White County baseball picked up two more wins in Hamilton County yesterday as they prepare for postseason action. The Bulldogs outscored the Foxes by scores of 16-6 and 12-8 in a double header in McLeansboro. In Game one, Devin Rankin pitched 6 innings allowing just 5 hits and striking out 6. He walked 7 and gave up 3 earned runs including a homerun. Zach Roark worked around 2 walks in the 7th to close out the win. Rankin helped his own cause going 2 for 4 from the plate. Cal York and freshman Caleb Seibers also added 2 hits for the Bulldogs in that 16-6 win.
York pitched the first 4 frames of Game 2 allowing 5 hits and 4 runs, 2 of them earned. He struck out 7 and walked just 1 in the 5 inning affair. Will Ledford gave up one hit, one walk and one run in the 5th. He also struck out 3 batters to close out the win. Carmi-White County wasted no time getting to Grady Leuke in the top of the 1st as the Hamilton County pitcher struggled with command and walked 5 only getting through a third of an inning and allowing the Bulldogs to jump out to a 5-0 lead to open the game. The home team would answer with two of their own in the bottom of the inning and it stayed that way until the 4th when the Bulldogs unloaded again for 7 more runs. A Foxes rally fell short in the 5th after they scored 4 runs, 12-8 the final in game 2.
Coach Justin Simmon’s Bulldogs are back in action today with a tall task as they’ll face off against Mt. Carmel and a pitcher that’s being heavily scouted by Major League Baseball. We’ll have the action from Eckerle Park around 4:30pm on WRUL.
The Carmi White County Lady Bulldogs softball team didn’t fare as well dropping both games of their doubleheader with Ham Co. The Lady Foxes got a walk off win in the bottom of the 7th after CWCHS was able to knot the game at 1 in the top half. Audrey Upton pitched a complete game for the Lady Dogs, 6.2 innings, allowing just 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4. Kadie Simmons went 2 for 2 from the plate and also walked once. Kendal Rooney homered and Mara Sarafini had a double for CWCHS.
Game 2 unraveled late for Coach Chris Shelton’s squad. The Lady Dogs answered every time the Foxes scored through the 4th inning with the game tied at 3. The Lady Foxes plated 4 in the 5th and tacked 3 more on in the 6th to run away with a 10-3 victory. Liberty Smith took the loss with 4 and a third innings pitched. She allowed one homerun, walked 2, struck out one and allowed just 4 hits. Of the 7 runs she gave up, only 2 were earned as the defense didn’t help her out. The Lady Dogs were charged with 7 errors in the contest. Kadie Simmons pitched the last inning and two thirds.
Carmi White County softball returns to action tomorrow at Elverado.
Other action coming up today, Carmi White County boys tennis is at Carbondale. Team Captain and undefeated Blake Pollard along with the CWCHS Wrestling team hosts Fairfield at 6:15pm tonight. NCOE baseball and softball are off today. They head to Grayville for games tomorrow afternoon.
