YATES CENTER — A pair of dandy pitching performances kept Marmaton Valley High on the winning path Thursday. MARMATON VALLEY took full advantage of Yates Center’s defensive miscues in the nightcap.
The Wildcats rode the right arms of Jimmy Frye in the first game and Cole Becker in the second to win a doubleheader against Yates Center High, 7-4 and 10-1.
The wins came in Marmaton Valley’s long-awaited 2013 season opener. Previous games had been postponed due to weather.
“It was nice to get out on the field,” Wildcat head coach Derek Scharff said. “I thought our young guys stepped up and did some good things. With five freshmen, we weren’t sure how they’d react, but they did well. And our older players did what they were supposed to.”
The two major characters were Frye and Becker. Both pitched complete games for Marmaton Valley.
Frye started off in fine fashion in the opener, holding Yates Center hitless until the fourth inning. Meanwhile, Marmaton Valley’s speed and aggressive baserunning created problems for Yates Center.
Sage Hall, Frye, Becker, Ryan Smith and Austin Deer all stole bases as part of a four-run fifth inning to give Marmaton Valley the lead for good.
Frye struggled a bit in the fifth, giving up two runs on four hits, including RBI singles to Robert Arnold and Trevor Chism but left two runners stranded in scoring position and Marmaton Valley still on top 6-3.
Both teams added runs in the seventh. Keagan Boyd reached on a two-out single before stealing second and third and scoring on a wild pitch.
Alex Waddell returned the favor in nearly identical fashion. He singled with two outs in the bottom of the seventh before stealing second and coming around to score on a throwing error.
Frye gave up seven hits with four strikeouts.
Arnold took the loss for Yates Center, giving up seven hits with four strikeouts.
At the plate, Marmaton Valley was led by Boyd, who had two singles. Hall doubled, as did Frye. Becker, Smith, Deer and Jake Kress all had singles.
Yates Center’s offense was spearheaded by Waddell, Chism and Arnold, who had two singles each, and Garrison Hall, who singled.
“I liked our offense at times, but we need to be more consistent and put hits together back-to-back,” Yates Center coach Tim Jones said. “And our defense started coming apart late.”
The visitors scored three in the fifth, once in the sixth and four more times in the seventh on a total of four hits.
The rest of the players reached via walks, then went around to score on errors or wild pitches.
The outburst broke open what had been a 2-1 Marmaton Valley lead.
Marmaton Valley scored its first two runs in the top of the third. Deer led off with a single. He stole a base, then scored on Jimmy Frye’s double. Frye, in turn, scored on a Becker single.
Yates Center responded in the bottom of the third. Waddell was hit by a pitch. He stole a base and scored on Chism’s double.
Becker allowed three hits in all, with five strikeouts.
Offensively, Frye went 4-for-5, with two doubles. Becker singled twice. Levi Ramsey, Boyd and Deer had singles.
Arnold had Yates Center’s only extra-base hit, a double. Chism and Justin Rossillon singled.
“Sage Hall did a really nice job for us at catcher,” Scharff said. “He caught some for us in the past, but he gets to take the bull by the horns full time this year.”
“We have some things we need to tighten up a little,” Jones said. “We’re a young team, but we’re close. If we can clean up our defense, we’ll be competitive with anybody.”
MV squad downs Yates Center
