Photo by Audrey Ring

Junior Jay Wandell lines up to hit and scores a single. The Wildcats’ record now stands at 8-3-1.

Poolesville

The Wildcats visited Poolesville, trouncing the Falcons 15-5 on Tuesday, April 11.

Walter Johnson’s ace, senior Leo Simpson, pitched the first four innings. After a rocky start, Simpson was able to pull away with two back-to-back strikeouts.

On the offensive side, senior Dan Avillo and junior Jake Goldberg collected singles. After junior Jay Wandell drew a walk sophomore Andres Johnson hit a two-run single. A wild pitch led to another run for the Wildcats.

WJ had an impressive second inning up at bat. Right away junior catcher Vance Bonior hit a home run to kick off the inning. Avillo and Simpson both got themselves singles and junior Aidan Watts hit a three-run double.

The Wildcats scored another three runs in the third inning. Bonior walked, sophomore Shaun Rudick, Avillo, Simpson and Goldberg collected singles.

Simpson pitched three scoreless innings, silencing the Falcon’s bats.

“Our defense seemed to be really working for us during the Poolesville game and there was nothing going on for the other team when I was on the mound,” Simpson said.

In the fourth inning, they unleashed a barrage of singles with seven Wildcats reaching safely. With three more runs, the inning ended 15-1.

Sophomore pitcher Nolan Ross came out to close the game. The Falcons hit an impressive grand slam, but that was not enough to catch up. Mercying Poolesville, the game ended after the fifth.

“We still need to work on hitting the baseball because we really heavily on our pitching throughout games but it will come,” Simpson added.

Wootton

After a tough loss against the BCC Barons on April 12, the Wildcats played the Wootton Patriots (5-3).

The Wildcats didn’t have a strong start but were able to tie it up in the third inning 2-2. Johnson took over pitching and the Falcons showed up on offense with three runs.

But that didn’t slow down WJ. The Wildcats went on to score seven runs. Wandell hit an impressive two-run single, ending the fourth inning 9-5.

In the fourth inning, Simpson, Ross and Goldberg all collected singles. Wootton had many defensive errors, allowing the Wildcats to increase their lead with two runs.

Both teams got one run in the sixth inning. Senior pitcher Jake Sher closed out pitching for the Wildcats last two innings.

Wandell collected a single and then stole second. Avillo hit a single allowing Wandell to get another run, ending the top of the seventh 13-7.

The Falcons scored three more runs but the Wildcats secured the win 13-10.

The Wildcats next game is on April 18 against the Churchill Bulldogs (5-4).