Wildcats outscore Cougars in home finale

Van Wert independent sports

It was a game that featured 33 hits and 29 runs and when the dust settled, Delphos Jefferson edged Van Wert 15-14 in the home finale for the Cougars on Thursday night.

Van Wert led 6-0 after one inning, with Jacob Place doubling in TJ Stoller, Place scoring on an error, Aidan Pratt singling home Turner Witten and Ethan Rupert, and Joshua Reichert driving in Kaiden Bates and Pratt.

The Wildcats scored four runs in the second, including a double by Logan Murray that plated Cody Bailey and Tanner Vorhees. Witten’s RBI double scored Place and put the Cougars ahead 7-4 after two innings, but Delphos Jefferson exploded for nine runs in the top of the third.

Van Wert (11-10) answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning, including a two-run single by Place that allowed Ethan Mooney and Carson Smith to score and make in a 13-11 game.

Delphos Jefferson added a pair of runs in the top of the fourth, and Van Wert scored three in the sixth on a two-RBI single by Witten that plated Dierks Knoch and Stoller and a sacrifice fly by Pratt that scored Place.

Witten finished with three hits and three RBIs, while Place and Pratt each had a pair of hits and three RBIs. As a team, Van Wert had 18 hits.

Braydon Scalf led Delphos Jefferson with three of the team’s 15 hits plus an RBI, while Murray had two hits and a team-high three RBIs.

The Cougars will finish the summer season at 6 p.m. tonight at Crestview.