B: Guthrie's one-hitter sparks Cascade

*Story courtesy of www.flyergroup.com*

By Todd Taylor

CLAYTON
— The third batter Cascade pitcher Conner Guthrie faced against
visiting Cloverdale Monday softly hit a single into rightfield. That
was the only hit the Clovers mustered all night, as Guthrie struckout
11 batters and led his team to a 10-0 victory in five innings with a
complete game shutout.

“I’ve been pitching real well this season
and I came in just like I’ve been pitching all year and did what I had
to do to win,” Guthrie said.

Only two Cloverdale batters hit the ball out of the infield and Guthrie retired the final seven batters he faced.

“It’s
a good thing he’s only a junior so I get him back next year too,”
Cascade coach Jason Thompson said. “He’s pitched well all year. I know
when he gets on the mound he’s going to be consistent and throw
strikes.”

Thompson will actually get his entire team back next
year, as the Cadets have no seniors on their roster. With the win,
Cascade improved to 4-7 and have a chance to win its fourth-straight
conference game with a victory at Cloverdale tonight.

“ We’re still young and making mistakes, but each game we’re getting better and that’s what you look forward to,” Thompson said.

The
Cadets committed no errors Monday and found multiple ways to score —
twice on sacrifice flies (Gage Hukill and Henry Heimansohn), twice on
errors, on a wild pitch, and on a passed ball.

Ryan Blinn had an RBI groundout, while Zac Baldwin and Alex Rivera each had RBI singles for the Cadets.

Hukill
scored the final run of the night after the Cloverdale shortstop
gathered a ground ball, but misfired on the throw to the plate for the
forceout.

Cascade scored one run in the second inning, two in
the third, three in the fourth, and four in the fifth to close out the
Clovers.

“We came in after two tough losses to Mooresville,” Guthrie said. “We needed this win. I think it will boost our confidence.”

Every
Cascade player in the starting lineup got on base at least once.
Catcher Alex Able was 3-for-3 with three singles. The Cadets only
struck out once in the game.

Zak Osburn got Cloverdale’s only hit of the night. The Clovers also had no seniors play in Monday’s game.

Cascade looks for a sweep of Cloverdale at 5 p.m. tonight.