Wildcat baseball team takes four losses; sits at 3-3 in league standings

The Fleming Wildcats suffered four on the baseball diamond over the past week. The Wildcats now stand at 3-7 overall and 3-3 in the league following last week's action.

The week opened last Tuesday, April 5 on the road at Akron, with a five-inning, non-conference contest. The Rams shut out the visiting Wildcats 14-0.

Fleming's batters struggled at the plate recording no hits in the outing. Junior Kolten Houser managed two stolen bases on two attempts.

As group, the Wildcats averaged .833 in the field after making just a single error in the game. Junior Nolan Japp led in fielding with six put outs on six opportunities. Junior Kody Donnelson and sophomore Will Bornhoft each went two-for-two in the field on defense.

Bornhoft took the loss from the mound after throwing for a single inning. He gave up two runs and struck out one Ram batter.

Junior Harry Harms and freshman Travis Johnson split the remaining innings on the pitcher's mound. Johnson gave up three hits and seven runs while striking out three of the 14 batters he faced. Harms threw two 11 batters. He gave up four hits and five runs while striking out one.

On Friday, April 8, Fleming hosted a rescheduled double header against the Prairie Mustangs, a league foe. The game was original slated for Thursday, April 7, but windy weather forced a postponement.

Prairie went up 9-0 after the opening three innings of the first outing. Fleming saw home plate for the first time in the fourth inning when they brought around four runs and the inning closed at 9-4.

The Mustangs continued to dominate offensively and tacked on seven runs in the fifth and sixth innings to close the game with a 16-4 win over the Wildcats.

Houser led the Wildcat sticks batting 1.000 in the game. He went one for one at the plate and scored a run. Japp hit a double on his lone hit of the game giving him one run batted in. Junior Triston Castillo led in RBIs with two off a single hit.

Houser led in stolen bases going three for three. Japp followed at two for two.

Junior Braylen Feather took the loss from the mound. He faced 18 batters, struck out three and gave up four hits and eight runs.

The Wildcats led 6-0 after the first inning of game two. They gave up six in the second inning, but added a run of their own to maintain a 7-6 lead. Scoring between the two evened out in the third inning with Prairie bringing around two runners and Fleming scoring one, 8-all.

The Wildcats held a one-run lead at the bottom of the fifth, 11-10, but gave up 10 runs in the sixth inning to fall behind 20-12 at the close of the game.

Senior Nate Betley led the Wildcats in RBIs with four. He tallied two hits - a double and a triple - on four at-bats and crossed home plate twice.

Houser and Feather each added an RBI. Both batters hit twice on three at-bats.

The Wildcats stole 10 bases on 11 attempts as a whole. Japp and senior Joel Muller led with three steals apiece on three attempts.

On Monday, April 11, the Wildcats traveled to Briggsdale where they split wins in a double header with the Falcons. Stats for those games were not available as of press time.

MaxPreps lists just one game remaining in the Wildcats' regular season. They're scheduled to face the Caliche Buffaloes at home on Thursday, April 28. Fleming's school calendar lists a 3 p.m. start for that game.