The U-High Pioneers took on the Normal West Wildcats 10-0 on Wednesday, March 18, at The Corn Crib. The game was hosted by West, but had to be relocated due to flooding at West’s home field.
U-High’s bats immediately gave starting junior pitcher, Parker Roop, some leeway in the opening frame. Led by a leadoff walk and subsequent steal from junior Cole Brent, senior Griffin Meyer brought him home with a double that split the left-center gap to take the early 1-0 lead. “I had been seeing the ball well early in warmups, so I had some confidence going into this game,” Meyer said.
Roop came to the plate and gave himself some run support, bringing home Meyer with a sharp RBI single to right to make it a 2-0 ball game. Sophomore Wes Thompson capped off the inning with an RBI single to bring home Roop and give the Pioneers an early three-run cushion. Roop took the mound in the opening frames for the Pioneers and didn’t disappoint. He had a clean 1-2-3 opening inning, striking out two Wildcats.
The Pioneers offense cooled down in the top of the second, not reaching base during the inning. But that didn’t stop Roop from delivering another strong inning. After a dropped third strike allowing the leadoff hitter to reach base, Roop showed off his reflexes by catching a comeback hit by the next batter and doubled off the runner at first. The inning ended with a weak hit to the shortstop, Meyer, who collected the third out with ease.
The third inning of action started off with a ball that was belted off the left field wall by senior Caleb Hornbrook. Hornbrook raced around the bases earning a triple. The hit came with a huge crowd reaction from the U-Crew and Pioneer dugout. “That was the loudest I’ve ever heard it get at a baseball game,” junior fan Korey Dolk reflected.
The next at bat saw Thompson worked a walk, and junior Rhett Lynch punched a single up the middle to score a run. Senior Myles Mitchell followed with a fielder’s choice RBI. When Roop returned to the mound in the bottom of the third, the defense had his back. Meyer showed off his range at shortstop and threw out the shortstop on a bang-bang call. Thompson made a smooth play of his own at third base to retire the second hitter, and a pop‑up sealed a 1‑2‑3 inning.
During the top of the 4th, Meyer continued his stellar performance with a double that one hopped off the left-center wall. Roop then showed off his two-way skills and traded places with Meyer, hitting a double of his own. The call at the plate was close, but Meyer came out on top to add some insurance to U-Highs lead. With a dangerous hitter in Hornbrook at the plate,Normal West chose to intentionally walk him to set up a force out at second or third. Their gameplan ended up working when senior Bodey Klemmensen hit a bloop that dropped in center field. “I didn’t think that ball would drop, but it got caught in an awkward spot between fielders,” Klemennsen added.
The Pioneers had some confusion on the base paths, and senior pinch runner Cade Cunningham was thrown at third for the final out. To start the bottom of the 4th, Roop caught the first two batters swinging, and walked the third. That would be the last batter he faced in his shutdown outing, where he only allowed one hit, and struck out 4 in his 3.2 innings of work.
Roop’s performance gave him confidence for the outlook of the rest of the season, “I was feeling great on the mound. Emotions were high since it was the first game of the year and against a crosstown rival like Normal West, but I was able to settle in early and get comfortable with all my pitches,” he explained. “I had full trust in all my teammates behind me to make all the plays which took all the pressure off me, and all my coaches and teammates believing in me and having my back helped boost my confidence. Overall great win for the squad, and we are excited to keep it rolling.”
Sophomore Colton Carpenter then came in for relief. His first at bat wasn’t ideal, where he gave up a hit that hugged the right foul line. But Thompson showed off his arm strength in right field to throw out the runner at second for out number three.
The Pioneers didn’t see much offense in the top of the fifth, aside from an infield single due a hustle play from Lynch. The bottom of the inning started off with Carpenter giving up a leadoff single. He then walked the next batter. But Carpenter didn’t let the runner on base deter him, and he went on to strike out the next three Wildcats. “I started off the inning a little shaky, but I knew with the lead I had some wiggle room. I started feeling myself better as the inning went on,” Carpenter added.
The start of the sixth frame saw leadoff hitter Roop be hit by a pitch. Hornbrook continued his career night by smacking a double that split the left-center gap to bring Roop home. The final run of the game came from a single sharply hit up the middle from Lynch, tallying his second hit of the game. Going into the bottom of the sixth, Carpenter delivered a clean 1-2-3 inning to send the game into the final inning.
With a 10 run lead, U-High went to Cunningham to secure the win. Cunningham allowed a few baserunners at the start of the inning, but backed by a strong infield defense, U-High secured the win on a double play. Hornbrooks’ command behind the plate helped bolster U-High’s pitching performance. “I think the pitchers did a great job of throwing strikes, mixing speeds, and competing today on the mound. Parker Roop set the tone while Colton Carpenter and Cade Cunningham followed his lead and shut them down,” Hornbrook said. “It was a great way to open the season. We have a lot to build on, but we know we have a good team that can accomplish great things.”
