Kosciusko pitcher Parker Ryals hurled a 15-strikeout, complete-game performance on Saturday to lift the Whippets past Murrah, 2-0. Kosciusko also earned an 8-3 win against Greenville in its season opener earlier on Saturday.
Nolen Yuille went 3.2 innings against Greenville to record the pitching win. Yuille struck out six and walked four. He allowed three earned runs. Ethan Wood pitched 1.1 innings and struck out two.
Matthew Allen led the way with three hits against Greenville. Heath McBride provided two RBIs, while Will Cook and Evan Scott notched one RBI apiece. Allen paced the Whippets with two stolen bases.
Lucas Price, Tyler VanCise, Allen, Yuille and Cook recorded hits against Murrah. Allen supplied his team’s lone RBI in the contest. Walker Hill added two stolen bases, while VanCise and Cook each swiped one bag.
The two wins are the first under first-year Kosciusko (2-0) head coach Derrik Boland, who said he is using the first games of the season to get a feel for his team and to learn its identity.
“Your first five games or so, you’re trying to find out who your team is,” Boland said. “You can inter-squad (scrimmage) and practice all you want, but you don’t really learn your team’s true identity and what kind of team it's going to be… These first five to 10 games, in my opinion, are the games that tell us who we are… We’re going to try a couple different lineups every game and see what clicks best for us, and what’s the best option for our team overall.”
Kosciusko visits Ridgeland on Tuesday and hosts Grenada (Thursday) and West Point (Saturday) in action on the diamond this week.
