Baseball

War Eagles are 6-1 after 3 weeks of play

By KEITH ANDERSON
Baseball Coach

The War Eagles won in walkoff fashion on Feb. 27th. Trailing 3-0 until the 6th, the War Eagles finally got the offense going to tie it up a 3-3.
In the 7th inning, the War Eagles loaded up the bases with 2 outs and Garrett Veltkamp fought off several pitches with 2 strikes before delivering the game winning hit up the middle.
Leaston Spears fought through a tough 1st inning to give the War Eagles 4 innings of work holding the line for Jesse Nazworth who threw 2 shutout innings giving up 1 hit and striking out 3.
Will Chipman came in to shut the door in the 7th needing only 9 pitches to put the game away and get the win. Michael Hurley paced the offense with 2 hits.
Parker Lawhon, Brady Crum, Garrett Veltkamp, and Sam Bruce all had a hit a piece.

• On Feb. 29th, the War Eagles hosted district foe Taylor County. The War Eagles gathered 6 hits against a hard throwing lefty to win 3-0.
  Will Chipman started on the mound throwing 4 2/3 innings, scattering 3 hits, striking out 4 and only walking one in the winning effort. Gavin Estep came in relief to throw 2 1/3 innings of shutout baseball giving up no hits and walking 1 while striking out one and receiving a save on the night.
  Senior Catcher Brady Crum led the offense with a 2-3 night. Parker Lawhon, Michael Hurley, Joseph Pierini, and Gavin Estep each had a hit a piece. The War Eagles ran the bases aggressively with 10 Stolen bases on the night. Parker Lawhon had 3, Brady Crum, Joe Reyes, and Michael Hurley each had 2 stolen bases, and Joseph Pierini had 1.
  On March 6th, the War Eagles hosted a strong Lincoln High team losing 12-4 for their first defeat this year. Leaston Spears had another strong start on the mound before giving way into the 4th inning after a botched rundown and an error resulted in 4 runs for the trojans that should have been another shutout inning.
  Jesse Nazworth, Hayden Wright, Garrett Veltkamp, Ryan Newberry, Connor Nazworth, and Gavin Gautreau all relieved from the bullpen. Despite the strong hitting and pitching performance from Lincoln, Wakulla banged out 8 hits to Lincoln’s 10. Michael Hurley and Owen Klees each had 2 hits on the night, both with a double and a single. Hayden Klees, Josiah Pierini, Brady Crum, and Sam Bruce each had singles.
  On Friday, March 8th, the War Eagles traveled to Leon where they would be tied at 4-4 and go into extra innings to preserve the win 6-4 in the comeback victory.
  Starting pitcher Gavin Estep had another fine outing for the War Eagles pitching through some early adversity down 3-0 once again, but managing to throw 4.2 innings scattering 6 hits, only giving up 2 earned runs and striking out five coming out of the game with the score tied at 3. Will Chipman came on in relief to throw 3.1 shutout inning giving up 3 hits, striking out three and walking none.
  Parker Lawhon and Haden Klees both notched 2 hits. Klees had the big blow with the go-ahead run in the 8th inning. Brady Crum cemented the lead with and RBI single also in the 8th. Michael Hurley continued with his hot bat adding a hit and a timely sacrifice bunt.
  Josiah Pierini and Sam Bruce also chipped in a single and Gavin Gautreau had a double in the affair.
  The War Eagles improve to 6-1 and will travel to Brookwood and host Suwannee in the upcoming week.