The opening round of the 4A baseball playoffs was easy for Kosciusko. The next round will be much tougher.
The Whippets defeated Gentry 16-0 and 12-1. Up next is Pontotoc, beginning Friday.
“We played good defense and threw strikes,” said coach Cole McBride.
The first game with Gentry lasted only two and a half innings. Kosciusko scored 12 runs in the first inning and added four in the second.
Parker Ryals pitched two hitless innings with three strikeouts and Larson Rancher finished up with two strikeouts and a ground out in the third.
Parker Ryals gets the start on the mound and the win for Kosciusko.
Kevin Brunt / The Star-herald
The Whippets' 12-hit attack included homers by Connor Wallace, Hayden Rogers, and Ty Ramage, two doubles by Ethan Wood, and one by Ryals.
The second game lasted five innings. Kosciusko scored five two-out runs in the second on doubles by Landon Wallace, Connor Wallace and Wood and singles by Ramage and Rogers, and added seven runs in the third.
Hayden Rogers rips one for extra bases.
Kevin Brunt / The Star-herald
Landon Wallace, Ramage, Rogers and Ryals each had two hits. Wood, Jacob Nunn and Landon Wallace combined on a two hitter with 10 strikeouts,
Gentry took a short-lived 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Elijah Powers in the first inning.
Kosciusko is the champion of Region 4-4A and Gentry was fourth in 3-4A.
Pontotoc, second in 2-4A, defeated Caledonia 6-4 and 10-2, coming from behind in both games after fallowing behind 4-0 and 2-0. The Warriors won the first game with two runs in the sixth and the second with eight in the seventh.
Pontotoc hit five homers in the two games.
“I know they are a really good team,” McBride said. “We're going to have to practice well this week and play good baseball.”
Ethan Wood rips a double for the Whippets.
Kevin Brunt / The Star-herald
Game time for the Friday game at Kosciusko and Saturday at Pontotoc is 7 p.m. If a third game is needed, the Whippets will host Monday. Pontotoc is 24-6 with a six-game winning streak.
