Wharton had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4.7 runs), and they went ahead and made it four on Thursday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Middleton Tigers a 14-0 shutout. That result was just more of the same for these two, as Wharton also won the last time the pair played back in April of 2023.
Connor Shore led a balanced Wildcats bullpen and pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (he also didn't allow any walks). Shore has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up a single walk in three consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Wharton let Jairius Morris and Chase Anello loose on the outfield. Morris scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-2, while Anello scored a run while going 1-for-1. The team also got some help courtesy of AJ Johnstone, who scored a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Even though they lost, Middleton didn't let batters stay on the plate for long and finished the game with nine strikeouts. That's the most strikeouts they've managed all season.
Wharton pushed their record up to 8-10 with that victory, which was their sixth straight at home. Those victories were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.2 runs per game. As for Middleton, they haven't won a game yet this season and fell to 0-11.
Wharton will head out on the road to face off against King at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. As for Middleton, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Gaither at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The last four games Gaither has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
