WINFIELD -- And to think, McPherson High baseball coach Gordon Peck was worried about his team's hitting going into the season.

But the Bullpups looked like a collection of Hall of Famers Friday in their season opener, as they pounded Winfield to the tune of 18-0 and 15-4, playing only eight total innings.

"We were concerned about our hitting before the season," Peck said. "Obviously we've got bigger fish to fry, but it was kind of nice to start that way. We only made one error in two games, so we made the plays defensively."

MHS scored eight runs in the first inning of the first game and wound up winning by the three-inning, 15-run rule. Expected ace Johnathon Bowers had to throw only 32 pitches, allowing two hits and fanning five.

The Bullpups had 14 hits in the game, though only two were for extra bases -- doubles by Evan Whitehill and Aaron Premer. Bowers was 4 for 4 and knocked in four runs, while coming up with two hits each were Premer, A.J. Youngblood and Caden Shaw.

After the first-inning explosion, MHS came right back with six runs in the second and four in the third to salt the game away.

The second game started as though it might be more competitive. After the Bullpups scored three runs in the top of the first, the Vikes came right back with three in the bottom of the inning.

But MHS scored six in the second and later came up with three in the fourth and finished the game in the fifth.

Premer had a shaky first inning, but then settled down to collect the win. EJ Schrag worked the fifth to get some varsity experience.

The bats were again booming. Whitehill's triple was the big knock, while five different players had doubles -- Youngblood, Bowers, Premer, Caden Shaw and Andrew Loecker. Shaw had four RBI.

The Bullpups also thumped the Vikings twice in the JV games, 9-2 and 14-2. In the first game, Sam Stucky had a homer and four RBI to back the solid pitching of Adam Loecker. In the second game, Byron Shaw was the winner, with Stucky and Jake Batson coming up with the biggest hits with triples.

MHS stays on the road Tuesday at Valley Center.

At-bats, runs, hits and RBI

Game 1

MHS (18) - Youngblood 4-3-2-2, Bowers 4-1-4-4, J. Batson 0-0-0-0, Dibbens 3-0-1-2, Schropp 0-1-0-0, Whitehill 3-2-1-1, Premer 3-2-2-1, B. Shaw 1-0-0-0, C. Shaw 2-3-2-1, An. Loecker 2-1-0-0, Schrag 1-3-1-2, Sherman 2-2-1-1.

Game 2

MHS (15) -- Youngblood 3-1-2-0, Bowers 4-1-1-2, Dibbens 3-0-2-0, Bersuch 0-2-0-0, Whitehill 3-3-1-1, Premer 2-3-1-2, C. Shaw 3-2-2-4, Schrag 3-1-1-2, An. Loecker 3-0-1-2, Schropp 3-1-0-0.

McPherson Unified School District 418
514 N. Main
McPherson, KS 67460
620-241-9400
It is the policy of McPherson USD 418 not to discriminate on the basis of sex, disability, race,
religion, color, age, or national origin in its educational programs and/or activities, nor in its employment practices.

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