‘Cats start fast to beat Camden in region opener

Published 5:30 pm Thursday, March 23, 2023

VALDOSTA – The Valdosta Wildcats (10-6, 1-0 Region 1-7A) opened their Region 1-7A schedule with a bang as they dispatched the Camden County Wildcats (6-8, 1-3) 7-1 Tuesday night.

The ‘Cats scored their seven runs on six hits while getting a quality outing from pitcher Isaiah Haygood.

“Isaiah worked through a couple jams there, but held his composure and got us through five innings,” Valdosta head coach Bart Shuman said. “We hit the ball well and played pretty good defense after that first inning.”

Haygood went five innings, allowing two hits and one unearned run with seven strikeouts. Reliever Sam Houston came on to close the game late, allowing one hit in two innings of work.

“Isaiah’s gonna pitch well just about every time he goes out,” Shuman said. “Sam as well. He’s been a guy we bring out of the bullpen and he likes that situation. He’s very competitive. He’s cool under pressure. It got a little shaky there with two men on and no outs but he buckled up and did a great job.”

In the top of the seventh, it looked as though Camden would get going as Houston walked Rivera after a lengthy at-bat that saw the junior foul off several pitches before drawing the walk. On the next at-bat, Jaden Jones came up with a base hit – enough for Shuman to make a visit to the pitcher’s mound for a brief chat with Houston.

When asked about the nature of the exchange, Shuman hesitated then chuckled a bit before responding.

“I basically just told him, ‘Look, just throw strikes,” Shuman said. “If they’re gonna beat us hitting it, then let ‘em hit it. Let’s throw strikes and not walk ‘em.”

Houston responded in kind, striking out Talon Daignault then getting Caden Napier and Parker Riendeau to fly out to end the game.

Offensively, six different ‘Cats – Haygood, Andre Mason, Jacob King, Colson Moody, Turner Samples and Braeden Lampkin – got hits in the game with Cohen Smith coming up with two RBIs.

The ‘Cats did much of their damage in the first inning as they jumped out to a 3-1 lead early on.

In the bottom of the second inning, with two outs, Houston was hit by a pitch on a 3-0 count then Haygood walked to put two men on.

Smith struck out, but Houston was able to get home to push the lead to 4-1.

In the top of the fourth, Haygood got Camden’s Bryan Brazell to ground out before allowing a base hit to Jayden Woodard. Haygood ensured no momentum was built as he struck out Miguel Rivera and Logan Wensel to get out of the inning.

Back on offense, the ‘Cats reached base as Samples walked and Alex Wilson was hit by a pitch to put two men on with no outs. Lampkin came up and got a base hit, Houston struck out and pinch runner Colton Spires was thrown out at home to prevent a run from crossing. However, Haygood was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Smith was walked to bring Wilson home for a 5-1 Valdosta lead.

The ‘Cats made the most of a Camden pitching change as Greyson Hicks came in for starter Logan Wensel.

Hicks struggled mightily with his command despite a strikeout to start the bottom of the fifth. Hicks walked Moody then allowed a base hit to Samples to put runners on the corners.

Hicks walked Wilson to loaded the bases, then walked Lampkin to bring Moody in to make it 6-1 in Valdosta’s favor.

Houston added to the lead on the next at-bat with a sacrifice RBI to plate another run for the final margin.

After the game, the Valdosta coaching staff spoke to its players about the job they did defensively after a two-error first inning. One word that came up during the conference is consistency.

“Well, I’ll be honest with you, we’re a work in progress,” Shuman said of his team’s defense. “We still made some routine errors like high school kids do, but our guys are working and we’re just a work in progress. We’ll make some really good plays and then we’ll make a couple easy mistakes. I like the energy we have in the dugout and our guys, they’re playing the game hard and we’re getting a lot out of them.”

The ‘Cats travel up to Kingsland Friday for a doubleheader at Camden. Shuman said ace Cohen Smith will get the start in Game 1, but the Game 2 starter is yet to be determined.

“I know the guy they were gonna throw tonight got sick before the game,” Shuman said of Camden. “I’m sure they’ll have their hosses ready to go Friday, but their young guys did a great job, kept them in the game but I’m hoping Cohen will have a great game and then Game 3, we’re gonna find somebody. We’ll see.”

First pitch for Friday’s game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.