LocalSportsJournal.com
Pitching was the key in Whitehall’s fifth-straight Division 2 district baseball championship on Monday.
The Vikings beat Tri-County 1-0 in nine innings in the tournament semifinals, then defeated Cedar Springs 8-1 in the finals.
Jake Gillhespy (7-0) pitched all nine innings in the victory over Tri-County, giving up only one hit while striking out 15 to improve to 7-0. Kasey Huizenga (7-2) tossed a complete game against Cedar Springs, giving up four hits and striking out 10.
Each pitcher only gave up a single walk.
“To go 16 innings and give up five hits and only walk two guys, you put yourself in a good position to win,” said Whitehall coach Warren Zweigle, who’s in his 21st year of coaching at Whitehall. “Our defense was solid too. Probably the best defense I’ve had.”
Whitehall went right to work in the championship game, getting four runs in the second inning on three hits and three Tri-County throwing errors.
Daniel DuBois led at the plate with three hits and one RBI for Whitehall. Nolan Throne had two hits and three RBIs and Tyler Carnes had two hits and an RBI.
In the extra-inning semifinal, Franklin Uganski scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth after reaching base on a walk. He took second on a sacrifice bunt by Ian Zweigle, then scored on an errant Tri-County throw to third base.
Uganski also posted Whitehall’s lone hit in the semifinal win.
“They went crazy after that first game, which no one deserved to lose,” Zweigle said. “But Jake is a senior and was determined to win that thing. After that, we just went to work in the finals.”
