Little League teams enjoy successful week

By: 
Nathan Oster

Two South Big Horn Little League teams entered this week with winning records, with the majors squad leading the way with a perfect 4-0 mark.

Sponsored by The SHACK, the senior-level team of 13- to 15-year-olds stands at 2-1 after notching a road win over Thermopolis on Thursday, June 18.

Daryl Shiplet, who is co-managing along with William Lavine, said the team started fast, building a 9-3 lead, but "kicked the ball around a bit in the final inning" before ultimately prevailing 9-6.

William Harlow picked up the win and Bennett Sanford the save.  The former worked the first couple innings, the latter the final three, according to Shiplet.

Caden Hunt collected three hits to lead the attack.

"Everyone's starting to get in their groove, figuring out where everyone fits in the batting order and where they perform best in the field," said Shiplet.

The club hosts a doubleheader with Worland today (Thursday, June 1).  Game one starts at 4 p.m., the nightcap at 6 p.m.  Another doubleheader follows Thursday, June 8 when Thermopolis comes to town for games at 5 and 7 p.m.

The final three outings on the regular season schedule will all be played on the road.  First up is a doubleheader in Worland June 12, followed by a 5:30 p.m. game in Otto June 15, and 5 and 7 p.m. games in Thermopolis on June 22.

Nine games in a 22-day stretch will test the team's young staff of hurlers. While Bennett Sanford is the ace, Shiplet said their efforts to develop arms behind him will continue.

"We're going to be trying some new arms — maybe even Landon (Craft) a 13-year-old.   He's young for this level, but he is going to be a heck of a ballplayer."

 

Majors

The majors team has been riding high under the direction of Brett Patterson and Jacob Parris.  Sponsored by Big Horn Federal, the club was 4-0 record heading into doubleheaders Tuesday night in Lovell and Wednesday night in Worland.

The last two wins have come easily for the majors team, which blasted Otto 14-3 on Tuesday, May 23 and followed that up with a 10-3 win over Thermopolis on Thursday, May 25.

Brendyn DeShazer and Marshall Brown pitched the team to victory in the Otto game.  Corbin Stewart had four hits and Quin Coyne added three.

 

Minors

The two minors teams are sponsored this year by Pathfinder Federal Credit Union and A.W. Hunt Construction.

Pathfinder picked up its first win of the season on Thursday evening, beating Otto 8-7 to improve to 1-2.  J.D. Kunkel is managing with assistance from Matt Stamstad, Joe Yarborough and Lisa Kunkel.

Kingston Schedler and Joseph Campos keyed the win over Otto with their work on the mound. "It was Kingston's first game pitching and he did great, striking out three players in the first inning," said J.D. Kunkel. "Campos was the closing pitcher, striking out three players in the third inning."

Leadoff batter Norah Thur led her team into five straight runs to start the game last Thursday night. Having lost to Otto in their previous game the week before, Greybull's Pathfinders came out on top in the rematch.  Kingston Schedler scored the tying run and Jonathan Williams scored the winning run for the Pathfinders. 

"We are coming along as a team, playing good defense, backing each other up, and making throws are important parts of the game. The team is progressing well and I encourage the community to come watch some real baseball at our next home game," said coach J.D. Kunkel. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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