KINGWOOD — Yesterday at sunny, windy, chilly Preston High, the Knights baseball team looked to step up above .500 against a University team coming off a nasty 17-3 loss at the hands of its cross-town rival Morgantown.
Maybe Preston was just catching the Hawks in a bad mood, maybe it started slow and couldn’t get untracked. Maybe it just wasn’t its day, or maybe the combination of pitcher Casey Smith and catcher Hunter Cottrell was too much to handle. But no matter the reason, it certainly turned out to be the Hawks’ evening, as they cruised to 20-0 win.
Batting around in both the first and the second innings, University (4-5) scored four and five runs, with Cottrell’s big blows — a 2-run triple in the first and a booming RBI double in the second. In the third, consecutive RBI doubles from Cottrell and Cam Musgrave pushed the UHS lead into double digits, and then the wheels fell off for the Knights (2-3) in the fourth. The Hawks plated nine, with another Cottrell triple and Jordan Denjen’s 3-run triple.
Meanwhile, leadoff hitter/starting pitcher Smith scored four runs — and limited the Knights to just six baserunners, two of which he picked off, in going the distance for the four-hit shutout.
“I didn’t have too much trouble keeping warm,” Smith said after the game, “and I was able to spot my fastball pretty effectively most of the game. Everything builds off controlling the fastball, so I was pretty happy with that. And I approach being the leadoff batter the same whether I’m pitching or playing in the field. I just try to get on and start the offense. That’s my job — get the team some runs.”
UHS coach Donovan “Buck” Riggleman knows exactly what the Knights had to endure, considering his team was on the other side last time out.
“That’s baseball,” he smiled, “but it’s also the best part about the game — we do this every day, so you always get a chance to turn things around right away. Today it was our day.”
Preston coach Glen McNew concurred.
“It was a tough day for us today, for sure,” he smiled, “but we have a game in less than 24 hours, so we have to just flush this one and get ready to battle when the sun comes up tomorrow.
“We’ve gotten out to a pretty good start this season,” he continued, “enjoyed some wins early. But I warned the guys that this game will humble you, so we can’t stop working our tails off to get better. And they’ve been putting in the work all year. We’re hitting pretty well, putting the ball in play, making things happen offensively. We’re also seeing some guys stepping up, becoming vocal leaders, and every team needs them.”
“We’re gonna keep trying to get a little better every practice, every game, every pitch, every at-bat, every chance in the field,” he concluded. “It takes time to learn to win, especially in baseball, but we are making progress, and I know we’ll be better later in the season.”
