RIPLEY — The Vian Wolverines split their four games in the Ripley Tournament, which took place Thursday through Saturday.
In pool-play games on Thursday, the Wolverines beat the Ripley junior varsity 10-2 in six innings but lost 9-5 to Sterling.
In Bracket B action, the Wolverines beat the Morrison Wildcats 10-7 on Friday but lost 15-7 in five innings to the Hammon Warriors.
In the win over the Ripley JV, the Wolverines (8-5), who trailed 1-0 in the first inning, scored three runs in the first inning and twice in the second inning to take the lead for good at 5-1 after two innings. A three-run sixth inning put the game into runrule status.
For the contest, Draighton Fletcher was 2-for-5 with a double, two runs batted in and a run scored, Stryker Fields was 2-for-2 with two RBIs, Kaden Fulbright doubled with an RBI, Riley Ellis doubled with an RBI and a run scored, and Cash Collins tripled with two RBIs and two runs scored for Vian.
Fulbright (1-2) got his first win of the season, going all six innings with six strikeouts.
In the loss to Sterling, the Tigers broke a 4-all tie with a two-run third inning to take the lead for good at 6-4. After the Wolverines cut their deficit to 6-5 in the fourth inning, the Tigers scored twice in the fourth inning and once in the fifth inning to seal the deal.
In defeat, Manny Terrill doubled and scored once, while Jeremiah Marshall tripled with two RBIs and two runs scored for Vian.
Michael Polecat (2-2) suffered the loss, despite recording seven strikeouts in four innings. Fletcher got the final two outs of the game.
In the victory over Morrison, the Wolverines jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. After the ’Cats cut their deficit to 3-1 after an inning, Vian put away the game with a fiverun second inning and a two-run third inning for a 10-1 lead. Morrison scored six runs in the fourth inning to cut the deficit to 10-7 but got no closer.
For the game, Fletcher was 3-for-5 with a run scored, Ellis was 3-for-3 with a double, three runs scored and an RBI, Cash Collins was 2-for-3 with a double and three runs scored, Drake Collins was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored and Terrill doubled with two RBIs for Vian.
Chris Cheater (1-0) got the win in relief, pitching the most innings in the game, three, and getting a strikeout. Terrill started and went the first two innings, then Clayton Thomas pitched the third inning and Fletcher the fourth inning.
In the loss to Hammon, the Warriors broke a 4-all tie with a two-run second inning and a five-run third inning for an 11-4 lead after three innings. The Wolverines scored three runs in the fourth inning to cut their deficit to 11-7 but got no closer as a four-run fourth inning for Hammon put the game into run-rule status.
In defeat, Polecat was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored, Marshall was 2-for-3 with a run scored and Ellis doubled with an RBI and a run scored for Vian.
Drake Collins (0-1) took the loss, going the first 1.2 innings with three strikeouts. After Thomas got the final out of the second inning, Marshall went the final two innings with three Ks.
