Going into the game, Marriotts Ridge and Wilde Lake seemed to be bearing in opposite directions in every aspect.

The defending county champion Mustangs, (8-4) entered the bout on a hot streak, having won seven of their last eight in-county games, including a 4-3 victory over the previously undefeated Hammond Golden Bears 5 days before.

.           Wilde Lake, however, seemed to be struggling with their new found success.  After losing their past two games by a combined total of 17 runs, the Wildecats, (7-5) limped across the county to play the Mustangs, and although they had already beaten them in a one run game earlier this season, there was no doubt that all signs pointed against Wilde Lake pulling off a repeat victory.

Then again, sometimes signs are not always correct, and in this instance that was unquestionably the case.

The ‘Cats jumped off to a quick start, scoring five runs over the first two innings of play, including their one hundredth run of the season on Jay Turner’s RBI single.

That was all the run support that starting pitcher Anthony Scafone would need.

            After a sub-par first inning in which he allowed two runs on a Dan Myers RBI single, Scafone found his groove, permitting only 1 unearned run over the next five frames, while all the while never facing more than five batters in a single inning.

            A two run triple off the bat of second baseman Joe Kelly, along with two other insurance runs in the fifth and sixth all but secured the lead for Senior Adam Baxley to close the door in the seventh. Baxley made quick work of the final frame, inducing three groundouts to Kelly at second to keep the Wilde Lake victory safe and sound.

            The Wildecats now head into their Friday match up against the 2-7 Howard Lions as the sixth ranked team in the county. Their 107 runs scored is tops in the county, with no other team exceeding the century mark.