Woodland splits games at Battle for Bartow

The Woodland Wildcats split a pair of games Thursday participating in the 2023 Battle for Bartow Baseball Classic at LakePoint.

Woodland defeated Sonoraville 10-3 and lost to Heritage-Catoosa 14-4.

WOODLAND 10, SONORAVILLE 3

Woodland starting pitcher Austin Daves battled through a rough first inning Thursday afternoon and his efforts were rewarded in a 10-3 win over Sonoraville in the Wildcats’ opening game of the Battle for Bartow at Lakepoint.

Daves gave up three runs in the top of the first to the Class 4A 7th-ranked Phoenix and then tossed six shutout innings to register the pitching win.

Sonoraville had three of their seven hits in that opening frame. Daves walked one, hit one batter, and struck out five.

Meanwhile, the Woodland offense scored in each of its first four innings including two runs in the first, four in the second, and two more in both the third and fourth innings.

Jakiyon Porter finished with three hits including one double and three RBIs. Ayden Ray had two hits and three RBIs. Chase Carson and Connor Stermer also pitched in with two hits each. Mason Williams contributed one double with one RBI. Julian Wright drove in a run with one hit and Rowan Billings added one RBI.

HERITAGE-CATOOSA 14, WOODLAND 4

After taking an early 3-1 lead in the second inning, Woodland fell behind 6-3 in the bottom of the frame and ultimately lost to the Heritage-Catoosa Generals 14-4.

The Wildcats narrowed their deficit to 6-4 in the third inning but an eight-run fifth inning by Heritage ended the game.

Woodland utilized five pitchers in the loss with starter Hunter Shirley (1.2 IP, 6R, 5ER, 0H, 5BB, 1K) tagged with the loss. Zach Lambert (2.1 IP, 0R, 2H, 3K), Luke Evans (0.0 IP, 3ER, 3H), Coby Barrett (0.1 IP, 4ER, 2H, 2BB), and Logan Bentley (0.1 IP, 1R, 0ER, 1H, 1BB) also pitched.

Ayden Ray had two hits including one double. Billings (RBI), Jakiyon Porter, Julian Wright, and Brett Good added one hit each. Conner Lujan was credited with one RBI.

The win lifted Heritage-Catoosa to 15-7 on the season.

Woodland (12-11) returns to LakePoint Friday night to play the Alexander Cougars.