Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Curley Wolves In Baseball Regionals; Whip Fouke Twice

Fouke felt the wrath of the Prescott Curley Wolves twice in a five-day span.

The Wolves closed the regular season by whipping the Panthers 6-2 to finish as the number three seed for the district tourney. Both teams ended conference play with 3-3 marks.

Al Formby again went the distance for Prescott, facing 29 batters in seven innings. He gave up two runs on five hits and fanned nine while allowing no walks.

Other than a Ben Jones walk, neither team showed any signs of offense in the opening inning.

However, Formby handled the 'Cats in the second, only Eaves reached base and that on an error.

The Wolves offense was able to push one run across in the bottom of the frame.

Jarrod Yates began by walking and advancing to second on a passed ball. This put him in scoring position.

But, Justin Jernigan fanned and Brent Jordan flied out. It appeared as though the inning would end with no score as Formby went down on strikes. This changed when the catcher failed to field the ball and Formby reached first safely, thereby giving Prescott another life.

Meanwhile, as the catcher attempted to gun Formby down on his way to first, Yates was busy completing the circuit for the first run of the game. The throw to first, incidentally, wound up in right field. Formby was left when Seth Collins flied out.

Three and three was the way it went for Fouke in the top of the third as Formby was dead on from the hill.

But, Prescott's side pretty much went down in order as well, the exception being Jones walking again.

Four Panthers went to the plate in the top of the fourth, with Attaway reaching on an error. Otherwise, Formby allowed nothing.

In the bottom of the frame, Yates began by grounding out. Jernigan walked ahead of a fly out by Brent Jordan. Formby tried to help himself with a single, but the threat ended when Collins fanned.

Fouke tied the game in the top of the fifth, starting with a single by Scoggins, who stole second. Johnston's grounder advanced the runner to third, while a while pitch allowed him to score. Formby fanned the next two batters.

Finally, the Fouke pitcher made a mistake and gave Jones something he could hit. And hit it he did, taking it out of the park for the sixth time this season.

This began a five-run attack by the Wolves. Heath Duke went down on strikes, but Ingram singled and went to second when Al Johnston walked.

He advanced to third when Yates was given a free ride and scored when Jernigan singled, as did Johnston.

Tony Overton was then hit by a pitch and Formby's single brought Yates and Jernigan in. Overton was tagged after running past second and Collins grounded out to end the inning.

Two Panthers reached base in the top of the sixth, but both watched as their teammates were unable to bring them around.

Prescott went down in order in the bottom of the inning.

After striking out the first batter of the seventh, Formby gave up a double to Fouke's Johnston. A Crabtree single brought the runner around, but Formby shut the next two down.

Again, Formby's pitching was a game highlight as he gave up five hits and no walks.

Offensive sparks came from Jones' bat with his sixth homer, while Yates scored twice and Jernigan drove two in. Formby was two for three at the plate with an RBI as well.

In the JV game, Fouke beat Prescott 6-2.