RYLEE'S RECAP: HOOTS DOMINANT OFFENSE CONTINUES IN SECOND WIN

By Rylee Bamberger

The Columbus Chat-a-Hoots continued to show their dominant offense in their 12-5 victory over the Waleska Wild Things. After a rough start defensively, the Hoots capitalized on several mistakes by Waleska to open the game with an eight run inning.

Evan Venable put the wild in Wild Things with three wild pitches, two passed balls, three walks, and also hit a batter before being replaced before the inning was over. Venable’s final line was 0.2 innings pitched, 5 hits, 8 earned runs, and 3 walks.

The Hoots seemed like they had everything under control. The Hoots had five total pitchers who combined for 11 strikeouts and only allowed three hits.

Left-handed pitcher William Turner began the game for the Hoots and recorded six strikeouts in three innings of work. The freshman from Auburn University limited Waleska to only two hits and one earned run and is 1-0 on the season.

Relievers Luke Norman, Connor Folds, and Logan Seehafer each pitched an inning respectively. The combination of pitchers allowed 0 earned runs and 0 hits to maintain the lead that Turner started.

Connor Trepanier entered the game in the seventh inning and retired the side in back to back innings. The freshman from Middle Georgia College made multiple batters whiff repeatedly before finding himself in a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth inning. 

The Wild Things loaded the bases with a single and a pair of walks, and Caiden Helfin worked a six-pitch walk to score a runner. AJ DeMastrie earned his first RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly. Trepanier retired the next two batters to escape the jam and close the game for the Hoots.

The Hoots’ offense was led by Jonathan Manibusan’s 2-hit performance and Zane Ross’s 2-hit, 2-RBI performance.