Behind Virden's Gem, No. 11 Wall Cruises to Bi-District Title

SAN ANGELO, TX—The Wall Hawks claimed the Bi-District title with an 8-0 win over the Kermit Yellow Jackets on Thursday in front of a great crowd at Foster Field.

Senior pitcher Dryden Virden was stellar on the mound for the no. 11-ranked Hawks, tossing a one-hit, shutout gem and striking out 15 to lead Wall. In total, Virden allowed just three baserunners with a pair of walks on his ledger as well.

“Dryden did what he’s done in his last two outings,” Wall head coach Jason Schneirs said. “That’s a big plus for our team when he can do that and throw the ball like he did.”

Virden has now allowed just one hit in his last 13 innings pitched.

The Hawks and Yellow Jackets both went down in order in the first inning to start the game, but the Hawks blew the game open in the second by batting around and plating six runs.

Junior Gage Weishuhn opened the scoring with a two-run shot to left field. Will Brown followed that up with an RBI single to score Jake Jansa and make it 3-0 Wall.

With two runners on, Caleb Heuertz blasted Wall’s second home run of the inning to finish the scoring and give the Hawks a 6-0 cushion.

 “That [inning] kind of carried us through,” Schneirs said.

Brown and Heuertz would score the Hawks final two runs in the fourth inning for the eventual winning margin.

Despite the win, Wall’s skipper did not overlook areas where the State Tournament-hopefuls could improve.

“I’d like to see our guys be a little bit better with fly balls,” he said. “We had a lot of fly ball outs tonight. That’s something we’re going to have to improve on going forward as we go deeper in the playoffs because we’re going to have to put pressure on defenses.”

 Heuertz led the Hawks offensively, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Weishuhn also had two hits and two RBIs.

The Hawks advance to the Area Round of playoffs where they will face the winner of the Childress-Slaton game that takes place on Friday at 5 p.m.