Wharton nips Jefferson on game-ending play at the plate

By Chuck Frye
Correspondent

TAMPA – Regardless of the record, Wharton will never take playing Jefferson for granted.

“It’s always going to be a battle with Jefferson,” Wildcats head coach Michael Burgess said. “They’ve always been a scrappy team and battled us every year, so I expect nothing less from those guys.”

That attitude, and the impressive speed of senior Charles Fowler, came within inches of drawing the Dragons even in Saturday’s opening day of the Saladino Tournament. But after running Jefferson within a run, Fowler was nipped at the plate trying to steal home to close out Wharton’s tense 2-1 victory.

Wharton (6-1) will face Plant in the winner’s bracket of the Gold Division on Monday (at Jesuit at 4pm) while Jefferson (2-5) host Alonso, Monday at 7pm.

As a courtesy runner for catcher Alejandro Montada, who singled to lead off the seventh inning, Fowler stole second and third base then scored on Jayden Vazquez’s infield out to cut the Wildcats’ lead in half.

And when DH Nelson Arbolaez walked, Fowler came in as a pinch runner, moved to second on a passed ball and got within 90 feet from home on Joseph Fritz’s infield ground out. Only a disciplined play from Wharton catcher Carson Mohler preserved the victory as the senior dodged the feet of batter Hayden Sekanick and tagged Fowler just in front of the plate.

The daring play was no surprise to Burgess.

“They put one of their fastest runners on third,” he said. “I expected them to try and steal that run to try and tie it up. But you’ve got to be mature to make a play like that to make the final out.”

“Charles Fowler’s one of the fastest kids in the county if not the state,” Jefferson head coach Spencer Nunez said. “We all had him safe (at the plate).”

Before the thrilling finish, a fourth-inning flash of offense and the pitching of 6-foot-6 senior Billy Eich appeared to be enough.

Jefferson starter Julian Vargas (five innings, two hits, three walks, three strikeouts) yielded back-to-back walks to Elijah Dukes and Eich, before Quentin Meadows humbled a brutal crosswind by launching a deep RBI double to straightaway centerfield.

“It was my pitch,” Meadows said. “I’m seeing the ball well and I’m just trying to keep hitting the ball hard.”

Henry Griffith plated what would be the winning tally when Eich scored on his sacrifice fly.
Riding a pair of double-plays, Eich (three hits, four Ks) retired 15-straight at one point before running out of gas with one out in the seventh.

“I wanted the complete game,” the senior captain said, “but at the end of the day, I’m just glad we got the win. I had a great defense behind me and without those plays, we probably don’t win.”

“We just beat a Durant team (last Thursday) that is in the top 10 in the county every week and we should have tied up a game with a top-four team in the county,” concluded Nunez. “What’s motivating to our team is how they’re playing. We’re going to show up Monday, give whoever we play all we got, hopefully come out with a win and see our hard work pay off.”

⚾⚾⚾⚾

(6) Wharton 2
Jefferson 1

J   000|000|1 – |1|3|0
W  000|200|x – |2|3|1
W – Eich (1-0); L – Vargas (0-2); S – Wadhwani (1)
2B – Meadows (W). Records – J (2-5); W (6-1).

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