DUDLEY — Trae McKee intended to call upon Southern Wayne’s bullpen in the seventh inning Friday evening.
Drew Sweet didn’t like it.
“I want the ball,” he told McKee.
“He wanted to beat this team,” McKee said.
Sweet sought revenge, too.
The junior right-hander tossed his first complete game of the season and helped secure a 9-2 triumph over Quad County 3A foe West Johnston. Sweet (7-2) surrendered an unearned run on nine hits and retired six Wildcats on strikeouts.
West won the previous meeting, 6-2.
“We know that when Drew is out there, he’s a bulldog on the mound and gives us everything we want out of him,” McKee said. “When he has the ball in his hand, he wants to beat a team.”
The Wildcats collected an unearnedrun during their first at-bat.
Though the defensive miscue deflated Sweet and frustrated his teammates, the Saints bounced back in the bottom of the first.
Sweet lifted his own spirits with a two-RBI home run that sailed over the right center-field fence. His second round-tripper of the season spearheaded a five-run, confidence-building outburst.
“He’s an emotional player, wears it on his sleeve sometimes and can get fired up [from it] sometimes,” McKee said of Sweet. “To respond the way he did after the first [inning], when we did kick it around a little,was really good. A lot of guys could say ‘my defense is not going to be behind me tonight,’ but he kept working.”
West continued to put pressure on the SW defense. The Wildcats cranked out eight more hits over the next six innings, but stranded nine runners on base — 10 for the game.
Two bang-bang defensive plays — a toe-tag at first base and a close play at the dish in the same inning stopped West.
Tyler Odom stretched to catch a throw from catcher Alex Ferrell on a bunt attempt down the first-base line. His toe dragged the bag milliseconds before the Wildcats’ Dean Cappelletti touched it.
Ferrell tagged out a Wildcat runner on a beautiful relay throw from center fielder Hayden Waller. The junior ended the night with eight putouts and eight assists.
“We didn’t get an out in certain situations the last game against them, but this time we made sure we didn’t let the wheels fall off,” McKee said. “The only one who had the chance to make a play like that was Alex. The way he attacked the ball, and Tyler did a great job grabbing the ball.
“Hayden throwing [the] runner out at the plate … any outfield assist in high school is huge. He made some unbelievable catches in center field [tonight].”
The Saints tallied two third-inning runs on a bases-loaded, RBI walk to Brayden McKee and an infield error. They tacked on two more in the bottom of the sixth to seal their third consecutive win.
Cuyler Daly (two RBI) and Jack Coates (two RBI) supplied two hits apiece. Sweet, Tyler Odom (RBI), Ferrell, Dylan Daniels and Waller each contributed one hit.
Southern Wayne (12-5 overall, 6-4 QCC) begins a two-game, QCC road swing Tuesday at league-leading Hunt and is the guest of South Johnston on Thursday. Each contest follows the JV game.
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