WILMONT -- The Wilmont Cardinals jumped out to a 1-0 lead in their best-of-five regional amateur baseball playoff series with Jackson Wednesday night, beating the Bulls 4-1 at Butts Probst Field.
Nate Harberts earned the victory for the Cardinals, giving up one run on five hits -- striking out nine and walking six in seven innings. Harberts had good stuff through the seventh, but yielded to Ben Morrison with the bases loaded and nobody outs in the eighth. Morrison struck out three and walked one in picking up the save.
Ryan Dupic, a player the Bulls picked up in the draft from Spencer, earned the loss. Dupic gave up four runs on five hits, striking out seven and walking two in six innings on the hill.
"It was good to get the first one out of the way," Wilmont player/coach Jeff Appel said following the game. "Nate threw a great game and Benny did the job at the end.
A pitcher's duel through the opening 4 1/2 innings, Wilmont struck first with a run in the bottom of the fifth. Following a fielder's choice, which placed Andrew Harberts on first, Dupic hit Morrison with a pitch and the Cardinals had a pair of runners on. Sam Baumgartner's single to right wasn't quite deep enough for Andrew Harberts to make it home, as Jackson catcher Alex Schmidt applied the tag for the second out. But Dupic's third pitch to Cole Johnson got behind Schmidt and Morrison sprinted home for the first run of the game.
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Wilmont added to its total in the bottom of the sixth, as back-to-back singles by Josh Noble and Jessie Schwartzer gave the Cardinals room to run with no outs. Both players wound up in scoring position when Schwartzer's towering fly was lost by the Jackson defense. With one out, Aaron Johnson slapped a shot to first base, but Wade Wacker didn't come home with the throw -- conceding a run for the out.
It looked as though Dupic would get out of the inning with minimal damage, but the lanky hurler couldn't field Jesse "Muff" Teerink's shot back to the mound and Schwartzer strolled home for a 3-0 Wilmont advantage. Andrew Harberts followed with a broken-bat single to right, putting Teerink in scoring position as Morrison stepped to the plate. Morrison promptly belted a pitch to left for an RBI single, scoring Teerink and giving the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.
"We knew the Spencer players were going to be tough on the mound," Appel said. "But we were able to get some quality at-bats."
A scoreless seventh inning paved the way for Nate Harberts to return to the hill to start the eighth. However, the lefty gave up a lead-off single and walked the next two Bulls. Appel called for Morrison, who immediately struck out Adam Schmidt for the first out. A fielder's choice was good for the second out, but Jackson managed to get Jon Hummel across the plate to bring the score to 4-1. Morrison got some help from his defense to retire the side and end the rally.
"We talked before the game and I knew I would be called on in this type of situation," Morrison said. "I came in and got the job done -- that's all I can say."
Morrison struck out two and walked one in the final frame to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead with the series heading to Jackson Friday night.
"If they continue to pitch the way Harberts did against us tonight, we can't touch them," Jackson skipper Scott Barr said. "They are really deep at pitcher with the Hadley draftees."
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