Lady Knights power past Wooster for OCC triumph
West Holmes freshman Briar Cline produced a strong effort in her first-ever varsity pitching action. Cline struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball to lead West Holmes to a 6-3 win over rival Wooster.
After a bit of a shaky start to her varsity pitching career, West Holmes freshman Briar Cline zeroed in on the job at hand and powered the Lady Knights to a 6-3 victory over Wooster in the Ohio Cardinal Conference season opener for both teams Tuesday, March 28 at West Holmes High School.
Cline struggled with her control early, giving up a run in the first inning, but the Lady Knights offense awoke mid-game and gave her a nice cushion to work with.
After the first inning, Cline was dominant, going 5 2/3 innings and giving up just one unearned run, striking out seven in the process. More importantly, she worked around seven free passes but was never really in trouble until the sixth inning.
“I thought Briar looked good on the mound, especially since it was her first effort at the varsity level,” West Holmes coach Steve Frank said. “I think there were some nerves at work, but she showed a lot of what she can do out there.”
“I was a little nervous as a first-time starter on the mound, but it was important for me to overcome those fears,” Cline said. “Coach Ayla (Uhl) was really there for me and was talking me through each inning.”
The Lady Knights trailed 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth when Felicity Cline’s single and Kenzie Woods’ single gave them a 3-1 lead.
“I was worried there for a while because we couldn’t get anything going offensively, but some of our key kids came up big for us,” Frank said.
West Holmes tacked on two more in the fifth, the big blow being a massive double to the centerfield wall by Keegan Uhl, but in the top of the sixth, the Generals posted a threat, putting runners on the corners with two outs.
Frank turned the pitching job over to Addison Yoder, who took all of two pitches to induce an inning-ending pop-out to escape trouble.
“That’s exactly what you want from your reliever in that situation,” Frank said. “Addison came in and did a great job of getting us out of trouble.”
Wooster tapped Yoder for two runs in the final inning, but a game-ending groundout back to her finished off the victory.
“We’ve got a nice mix of experience and youth out there that is coming together,” Frank said. “Fundamentally we’ve been working hard and, hopefully, that shows on the field.”
Frank said a deep presence in the circle, where WHHS has four solid pitchers, combined with some seasoned veterans makes for what should be an exciting season.
Frank said it was big for his team to get out to a nice start in the OCC against a rival following a 25-1 blowout win over Orrville to start the year.
“Getting off to a strong start is important for us,” Frank said. “It’s only going to help our confidence grow.”
Keegan Uhl went 2 for 4 with an RBI, Woods cranked out two hits, Peyton Caruthers stole two bases and six different Lady Knights scored in what was a balanced West Holmes offensive attack. Paige Becker threw a solid game for Wooster but suffered the loss.