Woodland completes sweep of Cass; Wildcats will host first round playoff series

The Woodland Wildcats completed a three-game sweep of Cass Tuesday night with a 5-1 home win over the Colonels.

Woodland led 3-0 after the first two innings and tacked on single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to secure the win.

Cass scored its only run in the top of the fifth on a two-out, RBI double by Chase Tatum.

Ayden Ray hit a two-run home run in the first inning for Woodland and Coby Barrett gave the Wildcats a 3-0 lead in the second inning with a sacrifice fly. Woodland’s fourth-inning run scored on an infield error and the Wildcats’ insurance run in the fifth was driven in by Mason Williams.

Hunter Shirley (3.2 IP, 0R, 4H, 1BB, 3K) picked up the pitching win for Woodland. Zach Lambert (3.1 IP, 1R, 0ER, 6H) also pitched for the Wildcats.

Trenton Payne (4 IP, 5R, 3ER, 3H, 2BB, 3K) took the pitching loss for Cass. Hunter Lovett (2 IP, 0R, 3H, 2K) pitched in relief for the Colonels.

Ray had one other hit to go with his homer. Jakiyon Porter, Williams (RBI), Rowan Billings, and Connor Stermer had the other Woodland base hits.

Tatum had a pair of doubles for Cass. Jesiel Moctezuma, Cayden Roberts, and Luke Hollis also had two hits for the Colonels. Connor Jenkins and Nic Wright added one hit apiece.

Woodland (18-12, 12-3) finishes as the No. 2-seed from Region 7-5A and will host the No. 3 team from Region 8-5A in the first round of the state playoffs. That best-of-three series begins Monday with a doubleheader. If a third game is necessary, it will be played on Tuesday.

With Dalton’s 9-4 win at Calhoun Tuesday night, the loss for Cass eliminated the Colonels from playoff contention and ended their season with a 10-18 overall record and a 5-10 mark in region play.