Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Curley Wolves Open Baseball Season With Win Over Bluejays

Prescott opened its 1997 baseball season with a 10-7 win over Nevada, here, Friday.

Ross Cowling went three innings on the hill to pick up the win. He gave up no hits, no runs, walked three and fanned seven of the 12 batters he faced.

Key took the loss for the Bluejays, going six frames, allowing 10 runs, four walks and striking out 14 of the 36 he went up against.

Still, it took strong fifth and sixth innings for the Wolves to pull off the win.

The Wolves took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, but saw the Jays rally and go up 4-1 in the top of the third. From there, the Wolves regained the lead 5-4 with a four run fifth, but the Jays fought back to take the lead again at 7-5.

The Wolfpack put the game on ice in the sixth with five runs, and shut down the Nevada bats in the top of the seventh.

The contest began, though, with neither team generating any offense.

Nevada went down on three strikeouts, though the team got a man on by way of a walk.

Prescott got four outs in the first, but could do nothing with the additional out, which occurred when Jimmy Stockton fanned, but reached first on a catcher's error.

Four more came up for the Jays in the second, with three being retired by K's.

The Wolves earned their first run when Cowling walked with one down in the second. Formby reached on an error, moving Cowling to second. Shane Pipkin singled Cowling in.

However, Cowling lost some of his pinpoint control in the top of the third, as he walked the first two batters, and hit the third to load the bases. A third walk drove in a run for Nevada, and sent Cowling to the bench.

Back-to-back groundouts led to two more runs for Nevada, before Kretz crossed home on a balk.

In the bottom of the frame, Prescott sent four up, with three returning to the dugout and no runs to show for their effort.

The fourth was a blank frame for both crews, though Nevada did managed to get a runner in scoring position before the Prescott hurler shut them down.

Unfortunately, the Wolves couldn't generate any offense, though the team did get a single in the bottom of the fourth.

Three strikeouts were recorded in the top of the fifth for the Jays, though T. Evans did manage a single.

Then the Wolf offense showed up. Stockton opened the fifth with a single, went to second when Ben Jones walked, and scored when Yates singled.

Williams reached first on an error, which allowed Jones to complete the squared circle. Cowling singled in Yates and Williams to give the Wolves a 5-4 lead.

But, the Jays weren't finished, and refused to roll over and play dead.

Two walks and a double gave the Jays a 6-4 lead. This was followed by an error, leading to the third run of the frame for Nevada, pushing the score to 7-5.

This was enough. The Wolves had taken all they planned to from the Jays, and opened up with the heavy artillery.

Though the inning started well for Prescott, with singles from Johnston and Overton, it didn't look promising after Jones and Yates were fanned.

However, two-out rallies are nothing new in baseball as any fan can attest. Getting the third out is often the hardest part of the game for a pitcher.

This was no different, as Jordan reached after the catcher missed strike three, which would have ended the frame. The bases were loaded for Cowling, who got an RBI when he walked.

Duke then doubled, bringing Overton and Cowling in to put the Wolves up 10-7, where the game ended.

This is because the Jays went down on a fly ball, a strike out and a ground out in the top of the seventh.

Jones saw action on the hill for the Wolves, facing four batters, walking three and giving up four runs.

Yates went one inning, taking on seven batters, fanning one, allowing two walks, one hit and three runs.

Formby was the fourth pitcher, earning the save with three innings of work, tangling with a dozen batters, recording eight K's and giving up two hits.

In the junior varsity game, the Wolves pounded Nevada 8-3.

Brock Searcy belted a hit and scored, while Brent Jordan had two hits and scored twice. Justin Jernigan also had two hits and two runs scored, while Rick Hammrick managed to score. Brock Jordan recorded a hit and run, with Jason Kisselburg scored.

The Wolves will travel to Lakeside in Hot Springs Wednesday to play a doubleheader against the Rams. Gametime is at 4 p.m.

On Friday, March 20, the Gurdon Go-Devils will play Nevada at 3:30 p.m., while the Wolves take on the Devils at 5:30 p.m.