The Yates Center baseball team saw their season put to pasture on Tuesday with a 10-0 loss to Cedar Vale/Dexter in the 2-1A West Elk regional semifinals.
The five-inning defeat for the three-seed Wildcats marked the end of a 13-8 season. This season was the first for Yates Center under head coach Brad Edwards.
The Wildcats fell behind early after Cedar Vale scored a run in the bottom of the first.
The Spartans kept the pressure on Yates Center throughout the game, only allowing two hits and a total of three base runners.
Yates Center starter Caden Graham kept pace with Cedar Vale, throwing two scoreless innings in the second and third before the Spartans exploded for a nine-run bottom of the fourth.
Six hits, three errors, a walk and a grand slam blew the Wildcats right off the field and set up the run-rule after the top of the next inning.
Graham earned the loss, allowing seven runs (six earned) on seven hits. He allowed two home runs and forced four strikeouts.
Dalton Brittain came in for the final two-thirds of an inning and allowed three runs (one earned) on a hit and a walk.
Defensively, the Wildcats comitted three errors.
Brittain and Jones each had one of Yates Centers two hits and Braydon Gaulding got the teams lone walk.
The Wildcats core is sophomores so most of their talent will be returning next season but they will lose valuable seniors Gaulding and Ryan Moffet to graduation.
