Wayne County’s Conner Pittman lived up to his title as his team’s ace.
The right-hand sophomore delivered Northeast Jones it's first loss of the season with his complete-game performance. Wayne County (1-1) beat Northeast Jones (2-1) 6-2 Saturday night, despite just one hit offensively.
“He’s our No. 1 for a reason,” said Wayne County baseball coach Ian Sharpe. “He gets people out. He’s been doing it for two years now. He pitched a great game, and we played pretty good defense behind him.”
Pittman wasn't flashy or overpowering, nevertheless completed his task, allowing just two earned runs on seven hits in seven frames pitched. He struck out six of the 25 batters faced and allowed only three base-on-balls.
Nine-hole batter Stephen Ford had Wayne County’s solo hit - a two-run single in the fifth that put the War Eagles on top, 6-0.
“Offensively, it’s early [in the season],” Sharpe said. “I feel like we’ll get better. We had the one hit, but when we apply pressure, we do what we need to do offensively.”
Northeast Jones struggled to throw strikes at times from the mound, going through five pitchers who combined for eight walks and four hit batters. Three of Wayne County’s six runs crossed the plate as a result of batters getting pegged at the plate with the bases packed.
"With it being so wet early [in the season], and not being on the field enough," said Sharpe when asked about his team's approach at the plate Saturday night, "I think that had a lot to do with [not getting hits at the plate]. But our guys battled. We played one game today, and we took it on the chin pretty good. We came back and fought adversity, and I thought we did pretty good."
Wayne County lost to Presbyterian Christian 16-4 earlier in the day.
Next up:
Wayne County is set to face former Region 5-5A rival South Jones in Ellisville next Tuesday night. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
Notes:
Mason Smith, Sam Mansell, Dalton Tanner, Charlee Strickland, Preston Morris, Jesse Herron, and Bryce Sullins had one hit apiece for Northeast Jones.
