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Plano wins Cat Clash, 8-5A opener
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@acnpapers.com
The Plano Senior and Plano East baseball teams have been headed in opposite directions during pre-district play thus far and Tuesday’s District 8-5A opener between the two acted as such.
Rounding into form as early as the third Wildcat batter on the evening, junior center fielder Ryan McCarthy belted a three-run bomb to punctuate a first inning that saw seven Plano batters their wits against East senior pitcher Reid Landers, who recorded 38 pitches through one frame of play.
The tone was set, as the Wildcats built on an early 3-0 lead while the Panthers fell prey to a batch of on-field miscues and a commanding performance from Wildcat junior hurler Cecil Tripp for an eventual 7-3 Plano victory.
Tripp, who recorded eight strikeouts and fell just one out shy of tossing a complete game, paced a Plano defense that stayed out of trouble for the duration of the district opener.
The Panthers, however, found themselves clawing uphill from the onset as a pair of walks prefaced the McCarthy homer. The junior wouldn’t get another lick at Landers, as two outs into the second inning, East junior Sammy Arrieta was called upon for relief.
“I felt [Landers] was a little nervous and we just didn’t do a very good job,” said Travis Collins, East head coach. “We’ve just got to make better pitches and not get down like that, but we got a couple in the top of the second.
“But we’re just not doing the things we need to do at the plate to be successful.”
McCarthy responded in kind by converting Arrieta’s fourth pitch into an RBI single to score senior outfielder Nick Strauss.
“We had been swinging the bats good,” said Rick Robertson, Plano head coach. “I was kind of concerned because we had been swinging well, hitting for average and with some power, but I wasn’t sure based on who we had been playing against.
“But I was pleased with the way we came out swinging early. We got pitches and didn’t miss; that was the big thing.”
Sandwiched between McCarthy’s four RBI was East’s strongest spurt of the contest, a two-run, four-hit clip in the top of the second. Junior infielder Hayden Martin and senior right fielder Brandon Howle accounted for driving in the runs.
A third inning double by East junior shortstop Ty Washington marked the last Panther hit until the seventh inning, as Tripp retired nine of 10 batters between innings four through six.
“I felt I got stronger as the game went along,” Tripp said. “My other pitches started working for me and while I got a little tired there at the end, I’m still feeling pretty good.”
The same could be said for the Plano offense, which careened a three-run clip in the bottom of the fourth, courtesy of hits by Strauss, senior infielder Matt Johnson, senior shortstop Brett Johnson and Tripp.
The latter, a double past first base by the pitcher, saw the Wildcats cash in on an error for a pair of runs to up the ante to 7-2.
“One of the things I was most pleased with was our aggressiveness on the bases,” Robertson said. “We were able to take advantage of a couple mistakes with a base being left uncovered and the ball bouncing away from the cutoff man, and we made it hurt.”
The Panthers final stand came in the form of a ground rule double by senior first baseman Kameron Wilding that scored senior outfielder Alex Harris to equate the game’s final margin of 7-3.
Now 1-0 in district play, the Wildcats aim to capitalize with a run through the Dr Pepper Tournament of Champions, which is Thursday through Saturday. At that same time, the Panthers (0-1) will round out their tournament schedule by partaking in the 2010 Art Blair Classic.
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