OSWEGO — The Yates Center Wildcats evened their record to 2-2 after sweeping Three Rivers League foe Oswego 10-9 and 22-4 while on the road Monday.
In just one night the Wildcats matched their 2025-win total.
Yates Center secured the first game after senior third baseman Blake Morrison tagged a stealing runner for the final out in the ninth inning. Morrison also was one of the Wildcats’ hottest bats while hitting in 2 of 3 appearances.
After a calamity of errors gave Yates Center a 3-0 lead, senior outfielder Kage Beck registered the Wildcats’ first RBI of the evening with an inside-the-park home run.
The Oswego Indians rallied to tie the game at 4-4, but freshman outfielder Shane Shields reached home on a passed ball, then junior outfielder Colton Burkholder drove in the first of his team-leading two RBIs to give the Wildcats a 6-4 lead.
Yates Center continued capitalizing on Oswego miscues, but the Indians managed to respond with a run every time the Wildcats created space on the scoreboard.
In extra innings, Burkholder scored the game-winning run on a passed ball.
On the mound, junior pitcher Evan McVey picked up the win with nine strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings.
Sophomore Ben Cook came on in relief for six strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings and Shields posted five strikeouts while allowing four walks and three runs on two hits.
While the opener was close, the finale was anything but, with Yates Center ending the contest before the sixth inning after a barrage of scores, including an eight-run third inning and a five-run fifth inning.
Junior third baseman Evan McVey tied Morrison for the team lead in RBIs with three each.
Sophomore shortstop Ben Cook and Shields had two each. McVey also had a team-leading three RBIs while successful in 3 of 4 at-bats.
On the mound, Morrison picked up the win with seven strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings while allowing three walks and two runs on one hit.
Burkholder posted three strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings while allowing two runs on four hits and a walk.
Yates Center looks to stay above .500 Thursday when they host another TRL team in Crest, who comes into the contest undefeated at 6-0.
First pitch for the opener is at 4:30 p.m.
