Foothills West, North go down to the wire

History repeated itself in a June 6 matchup between two of Foothills Post 123’s Junior Legion Team.

When Foothills North and Foothills West faced off on May 28, West scored three runs across its final two at-bats to cement a 6-4 comeback victory. Nine days later, West did the exact same thing to defeat its crosstown rival 6-5.

West’s three late runs ended a dry spell of four scoreless innings. The visitors came out swinging and put up three runs in the top of the first inning, then only posted two hits across the next four innings. West scored its final three runs while only recording one hit in the final two innings, but took advantage of five bases on balls and two hit by pitches.

When West’s offense went stagnant at times, the defense helped make up the difference. Pitchers Jax Whitaker and Will Pardue combined to throw 15 strikeouts.

Whitaker got the start and threw three innings, during which time he recorded five strikeouts, six bases on balls, and allowed four runs on three hits. Pardue pitched four innings and finished with 10 strikeouts — including six across the fifth and sixth innings — two bases on balls, and allowed one run on two hits.

West also ended two innings by picking off base runners at key moments; North had bases loaded in the bottom of the second inning when Nick Burnett was caught stealing home plate, then in the bottom of the seventh inning, Kinley Stanley was picked off at first base to end the game.

North also made big plays in the field to get out of sticky situations. The top of the fifth inning ended when Stanley chased down Brayden Woodring at third before tossing to Brooks Robertson for the tag. The top of the sixth then ended when Jayle Bryant was caught stealing third base.

Thursday’s game also featured a SportsCenter Top-10 highlight from North shortstop Beau Carson, who channeled Derek Jeter to make a leaping throw to first base after throwing himself in front of a ground ball.

West recorded three of its six total hits through three batters in the top of the first inning. Pardue and Woodring each hit singles, then both runners stood on second and third when Whitaker stepped up to the plate. Pardue scored on a wild pitch, then Woodring scored on a line drive to center field from Whitaker.

Whitaker and North’s David Schuyler were the only players in Thursday’s game to record multiple hits.

Eli Ayers followed Whitaker’s single by earning a base on balls. Bryant, running for Whitaker, then rounded third and scored his team’s third run on a fielder’s choice hit by Bryson Grey.

North went three up three down in the bottom of the first inning, but got on the board in the second. The half-inning’s opening batters — Robertson and Burnett — were each walked. Aiden Perkins was walked after West picked up the inning’s first out, then Schuyler brought Robertson in with a single. Bases were loaded when Carson came up to bat, but West caught Burnett stealing to leave the three runners stranded.

North had a three-run inning of its own in the bottom of the third, and all three runs were scored with two outs. Stanley and Robertson were each walked, then Stanley’s courtesy runner Ben Branch scored on a double from Burnett. Caleb Gammons followed with a double of his own, doing so on the first pitch thrown his way, to score both Branch and Burnett.

North’s 4-3 lead survived until the top of the sixth inning. Stanley, who only threw one base on balls in hits first five innings pitched, hit Whitaker then walked Grey and Kasen White in the sixth as he neared his pitch count. Ashton Seal took over on the mound, then gave up a sacrifice fly to Ian Hooker that allowed Whitaker to score the game-tying run.

The home team countered with a run in the bottom of the sixth. Perkins was walked, then Zamarri Sweatman entered as the catcher’s courtesy runner. Schuyler laid down a bunt with one out on the board and beat the throw to second. Sweatman made it to second on the bunt, but when the throw to first went off the top of first baseman’s glove, Sweatman was able to reach home while Schuyler made it all the way to third.

Momentum was on North’s side, but Pardue put an end to that by throwing back-to-back strikeouts.

West’s Garrett Higgins carried that momentum shift over to the seventh inning by leading off with a double that hit the fence in left-center field. Higgins moved to third on a Pardue ground out, then bases were loaded when Woodring was walked and Davin Weatherford was hit by a pitch.

Higgins scored the game-tying run on a passed ball, then bases were loaded again when Whitaker was walked. Carson struck out his next batter for the inning’s second out, but a wild pitch then allowed Woodring to score what would be the game-deciding run.

The bottom of the seventh inning began with Stanley hitting a line drive to center field when facing two strikes. Pardue struck out the next two batters, then ended the game by picking Stanley off at first.

Pitching

FH West

Jax Whitaker — 3 IP, 5K, 6 BB, 0 HBP, 3H, 4R

Will Pardue — 4 IP, 10K, 2 BB, 0 HBP, 2H, 1R

FH North

Kinley Stanley — 5 1/3 IP, 6K, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 5H, 4R

Ashton Seal — 1 IP, 0K, 1 BB, 0 HBP, 1H, 2R

Beau Carson — 2/3 IP, 1K, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 0H, 0R

Scoring

FH West — 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 2 — 6

FH North — 0, 1, 3, 0, 0, 1, 0 — 5