Guthrie’s Baseball Season Ends In Heartbreak at Elgin

If you were to see a pitching line in a box score like the one Owen Wilder had in his start against Altus on Saturday, you could be forgiven for assuming Wilder was the winning pitcher.

Sadly, he was not. Saving aces Luke Hubbard and Zach Henry for later play in the tournament, head coach Terry Bennett put his faith in the up-and-coming freshman for the start. Wilder left everything on the mound, delivering a 6-inning complete game effort, in which he gave up only 4 hits and a single run while walking only two and striking out eight, but that was not enough to boost the Jays to victory in the critical first game of the regional tournament at Elgin.

Unfor tunately for Guthrie, Altus started their ace, senior Hunter Meyers, who put on his own dazzling display of pitching prowess with his two-hit complete-game shutout, striking out six Bluejay hitters and surrendering no walks. His only real blemish was a hit batter in the first inning.

Indeed, Guthrie’s best chance to score came in the top of the first inning, when leadoff hitter Willie Clymer reached on an error, and Cale Evans came up and did the same. Then Carson Wilder was plunked by Meyers. However, Clymer was caught stealing second during Evans atbat, and with men at first and second, Zach Henry popped out to second, and Josh Dement went down swinging.

Again, this was a true pitchers’ duel, so neither team made much headway. Guthrie had another chance in the third, when Clymer smacked a double to right to put himself in scoring position with one out. But Cale Evans popped out to left, and with Carson Wilder at the plate, Clymer took a chance in trying to steal third and was thrown out, his second caughtstealing in the first three innings.

The duel continued until the bottom of the sixth, when the Bulldogs were able to get a mistake out of Wilder. With one out, Colton Gillispie smacked a sharp liner past Jackson Walters in center that Gillispie was able to turn into a triple. A single by Altus’s next batter Schmidt brought Gillispie home, and that was all the Bulldogs needed, as Meyers sat Henry, Josh Dement, and Hubbard down in 1-2-3 fashion to end the game and break the Bluejays’ hearts.

The Jays followed this heartbreaker by taking their anger out on the hapless Southeast Spartans. Guthrie posted four runs in the first and ten runs in the second to run away with the game, and came away with a 16-2 run rule in 4-½ innings.

Tournament play resumed on Sunday and Guthrie again faced Altus, this time in the losers’ bracket. Guthrie bolted from the gate quickly with three runs in the top of the first inning, and it turned out that was all they would need, behind a stellar 6-inning effort on the mound by senior Willie Clymer. Clymer gave up only 4 hits and struck out 9 Bulldog hitters. Clymer’s single surrendered run was not earned, coming on two errors in the second inning. The heart of the lineup did the work for the Bluejays, with five of Guthrie’s nine hits coming from the 3-4-5 spots filled by Carson Wilder, Zach Henry, and Luke Hubbard respectively. Clymer also helped his own cause, going 2-for-4 and scoring a run.

Clymer ended up getting the 4-1 win to move the Bluejays on. Hayden Calvert relieved Clymer in the seventh and sent the first three Bulldogs back to the pine in order to secure the save.

Guthrie then faced off against tournament host Elgin, and the Owls sent freshman Ritson Meyer to the bump. The underclassmen Meyer showed his stuff, though, going the distance against Guthrie, allowing only one run on seven hits and two walks, with 10 strikeouts. Elgin also hit the ground running at the plate, scoring four of their five runs in the first three innings, with two in the first and two in the third.

Against Meyer’s work on the mound, the Jays were never able to put together enough momentum to keep rolling. They posted their lone run in the bottom of the second, off a lead-off single by Zach Henry, and a subsequent error by Meyer that got him all the way to third base. Henry was later able to steal home, and that was the only run Guthrie managed.

Zach Henry started and took the loss, giving up five runs to the Owls, two of them earned, on five hits and four walks, with four strikeouts. Luke Hubbard came in to relieve Henry in the fourth and shut Elgin down the rest of the way. However, Guthrie was unable to take advantage, and their season-long pattern of dramatic late comebacks disappeared against Elgin. The Owls finished off the Jays and secured their trip to the state tournament with the 5-1 victory.

Guthrie finishes the season with a 23-11 record, and loses a very talented group of seniors in Willie Clymer, Zach Henry, Carson Wilder, Cale Evans, Jackson Walters, Eli Plagg, Brent Ingle, Josh Dement, and Elijah Tucker, all of whom contributed strongly to Guthrie’s season. The News Leader wishes those young men well on the next stage of their journey.