Comeback Cats beat ‘Dogs, wallop Ronan

They had the lead. They lost it. They got it back. And then with a man on third and no one out in the top of the seventh, senior pitcher Reggie Sapa closed down Whitefish for a key conference victory for the Wildcats baseball team Friday night, 9-8 at home.

The Cats shot out to a 6-0 lead after three innings as the Cats bats were humming and Jett Pitts was working on a no-hitter.

But the tide turned in the top of the fourth as the Bulldogs got to Pitts and the Cats made some fielding mistakes, resulting in five runs for Whitefish.

The Bulldogs added another three runs in the top of the fifth to go up 8-6 and the Cats’ body language wasn’t great as the Bulldogs took the lead on a frigid, but calm evening at Sapa Johnsrud field.

In the bottom of the fifth Jory Hill started the rally by leading off with a triple and suddenly the Cats and the crowd were back into it. Hill scored on a wild pitch and then Cooper Ross hit a single. Ross stole second and then made it to third on a passed ball. Nico Young hit a single to drive in Ross and the game was tied. Sapa then hit a hard single and Young scored on an errant throw while Sapa made to it third as the Cats retook the lead, 9-8.

In the sixth, Sapa struck out the first two batters, walked one and then struck out the next batter. The Cats couldn’t add any insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth and in the top of the seventh, Sapa walked the first Whitefish batter, who stole second, then made it to third on defensive indifference.

With  the tying run 90 feet from the plate, Sapa struck out the next two batters for the win.

Coach Chad Green was pleased with the performance.

“His breaking ball was working really well,” Green noted and Sapa’s fastball was where it needed to be.

Green also credited catcher Cooper Ross for keeping the ball out in front of him. He noted that Hill’s calm demeanor and solid hitting in the fifth were the spark the team needed.

“Jory Hill hits a triple and the next thing you know the dugout is excited,” he said.

As for giving up the lead, Green said there were a couple of balls they should have caught.

“You can’t give outs to good teams,” he said.

The cold weather probably didn’t help much. Still it was a key a conference victory, made all the sweeter by beating the cross-town rival Bulldogs

On Monday, the Cats faced Ronan on the road and beat the Chiefs, 12-0.

Young threw a five-inning, four-hit shutout and Hill had two hits and drove in two runs in a game that was shortened due to the mercy rule.