It was a weekend that saw a little bit of everything with a range of high’s and low’s for the Salem 12u Wildcats as they competed at the New Baden/Trenton Tournament. After finishing tied atop their Pool after 3 games at 2-1 along with SC and Troy, the Wildcats lost the tie-breaker and returned Sunday for the Bronze game.
Salem trailed the host Trenton Bulldogs 6-2 after three innings stranding 4 on base through the first part of the game. Salem would rally for five runs in the bottom half of the fourth to take a 7-6 lead. Trenton would come back to score 3 in the top of the final inning. Salem scored 3 including a wakl-off RBI single from Payton Gullion down to his final strike with 2 outs. That followed his counterpart, Avery Gullion, tying the game with a single fouling several pitches off at the plate. Wyatt McCarty and Zane Dodson came up with big hits in the rally as well as Max Vincent scoring the winning run. Aden Rostance started for Salem on the mound and kept them in the game through 2.1 innings. Landen Maxey then shut the door allowing just 1 earned run the rest of the way. Payton Gullion finished 3-4 with a run and that big RBI. Zane Dodson was 3-3 highlighting a 9-for-10 weekend that saw him homer three times. Vincent was 3-3 with 2 runs scored. McCarty 1-3 with a big RBI. Avery Gullion finished 2-3. Maxey and Gibson added runs.
Salem opened tournament play Friday with a 4-1 win over Troy before heading back Saturday for a pair of games. Salem opened with Breese and scored 14 runs in the first inning on their way to a 19-6 victory. Landon Maxey hit his first home run, Payton Gullion scored 4 runs, 3 in the first inning on a pair of hits and drove in a run. Keytin Grawe who was great behind the plate all tournament, finished 3-3 with 2 runs Evan Barnes 2-3 with an RBI, Dodson 3-3 with 2 RBI, Rostance was 2-2 with 2 runs. Vincent, Gibson and Avery Gullion all scored with Gibson, Gullion and Riley Tate driving in runs.
Salem then lost a slugfest with SC 22-10. Dodson homered going 2-2, Avery Gullion was 2-2 with 2 runs, McCarty went 2-3 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. Grawe, Barnes, Gibson each scored while Payton Gullion added 2 runs. On the mound, McCarty retired all three batters he faced.
