YATES CENTER — After ending last season with just two wins, Yates Center Wildcats’’ return to grace came to a sudden end after falling in the opener of Thursday’s regional tournament 11-1 to the Olpe Eagles.
Confident from more than tripling last year’s win total coming into Thursday’s contest, the Wildcats’ bats did not come alive soon enough as the Eagles ended the game after securing a mercy-rule with six runs in the fifth inning.
The Wildcats scored their only run of the game following a bases-loaded walk, but they could not capitalize any further.
Junior Desmond Quackenbush took the loss, allowing 11 runs on four hits and seven walks. Senior reliever Blake Morrison stopped the bleeding in the fifth inning, allowing just two hits and a walk, but it was too much for the Wildcats to overcome.
Freshman outfielder Shane Shield accounted for Yates Center’s only two hits while perfect in 2 of 2 at-bats. With the loss, the Wildcats end their season 7-15. With only two seniors recently graduating, expect the Wildcats to pick up where they left off this season and be a potential force in the Three Rivers League next season.
