No mercy: Wharton routs previously unbeaten Lennard

By Bob Bellone
Senior Staff Writer

RUSKIN – Lennard didn’t expect its all-time best start to a season to end with a perfect record. But neither did the Longhorns figure they would ever be as imperfect as they were Monday night.

With an upbeat home crowd gathered for a showdown between two of the top teams in the county, No. 4 Lennard took the field against eighth-ranked Wharton, bent on extending its unblemished record to 12 games.

This just in: Wharton 20, Lennard 2.

The contest likely would have been significantly closer – and shorter – had Wharton coach Michael Burgess allowed starting pitcher Billy Eich to return to the mound in the sixth inning with an 11-0 lead and the mercy rule in play. The senior right-hander surrendered only a harmless single through five innings, striking out seven while lowering his brilliant ERA to 0.62.

“I was begging for it,” Eich said of the chance to finish, “but you know, it goes how it goes: rest my arm. They didn’t need me.”

As it turned out, Eich was needed by everyone who had seen enough, but the bullpen promptly coughed up the two runs required to force another inning.

And another nine runs for the Wildcats.

Among the eye-popping statistics in the box score was the production of Wharton second baseman Jake Turer. In five plate appearances, the sophomore collected four extra-base hits – three doubles and a triple – including one of each during a seven-run outburst in the sixth.

“It felt great,” said Turer, who drove in six runs and scored three others. “My teammates were there supporting me, just helping me to become confident.”

Another sophomore deep in the batting order was David Ascano, who reached five times with two doubles, a single and a pair of walks. He had four RBI and scored three times.

“We were coming back from a Durant loss,” Ascano said. “We wanted to come out with the bats swinging, get an offense starting early. Our pitching came through, our hitters came through, and we just got a rally going.”

Both teams begin district play in their next outings. Wharton (10-3) has a road date with Mitchell on Tuesday. Lennard (11-1) plays host to East Bay on Friday.

⚾⚾⚾⚾

(8) Wharton 20
(4) Lennard 2

W 000|317|9 – |20|15|4
L  000|002|0 – |2|2|1
W – Eich (2-0); L – Bird (3-1)
2B – Turer 3, Ascano 2, J. Meadows (W); 3B – Turer, Dukes (W). Records – W (10-3); L (11-1).