Wildcats stun Diamond Doggs

“Everyone has been talking about this being a rivalry, but it’s not really one,” Cavey said. “When one team leads the series 7-2, then it’s not a rivaly really. Hopefully, what we did today will help start to make it one. We are trying to get where they are. They have a great team so I am really proud of what we accomplished here today.”

With brutal playing conditions once again, including cold temperatures and a biting wind, AHS seemed to relish in the role of underdog Monday. After WBHS took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a homer by Max Pentecost and an RBI single by Trace McDaniel, the Wildcats answered in the bottom half with a two-run blast from Bubba McDaniel.

For Cavey, that homerun was a big difference Monday afternoon.

“We were able to answer,” the AHS coach said. “That was huge for us in getting this big win.”

WBHS temporarily regained the lead at 3-2 in the top of the second when Grayson Ivey scored on a wild pitch. However, perhaps the story line of the contest was Apalachee’s ability to answer. The Wildcats scored three runs in the bottom of the third on a homer by Alan Trammell and would not trail again.

AHS pushed two more runs across in the bottom of the fourth for a 7-3 advantage.

WBHS began chipping away at the lead with a run in the fifth and sixth innings but a run by the Wildcats in the bottom of the sixth proved to be big. The Bulldoggs, trailed 8-5 and facing their last at bat, got within 8-6 on an RBI single by Hinshaw which scored Pentecost. However, the game would end with the bases loaded and WBHS two runs shy.

“We had some great pitching efforts today,” Cavey said of Cory Hoopaugh and Ryan Shorter. “They battled and stayed in there. You never know when a team as talented as Winder-Barrow is going to explode with a lot of runs. However, we kept them from having that big inning.”

The Wildcat bats were also the first of 2010 to rattle WBHS starter Dustin Dunagan, who had almost been flawless until Monday’s contest. Dunagan worked three innings Monday before being lifted.

“The key for us now will be to handle this success,” said Cavey, whose squad improved to 1-1 in Region 8-AAAA play. “They’ve got to realize it is going to take this type of effort every day to get it down. That’s the way it’s got to be in their region.”

Momentarily, however, even Cavey admitted to enjoying the victory Monday.