SNYDER, TX-- The no. 11-ranked Wall Hawks took game one of their Region I Quarterfinal series with Idalou 11-0 in five innings, despite thunderstorms and a tornado warning halting play in the bottom of the second.
“Idalou is a tough team year in and year out,” said Wall head coach Jason Schniers.
Senior Weatherford College commit Dryden Virden took to the hill once again. Virden extended his scoreless streak to 24 consecutive innings with another dominant performance. The Hawk’s ace went five innings and allowed just one hit with 10 strikeouts and three walks.
“I’m telling you, when he throws the ball like that, we’re tough to beat,” Schniers emphasized. “I don’t think he had his best stuff tonight from what he had in the first two rounds, but he was still pretty effective with what he had.”
The Hawks and Wildcats were knotted at zero in the bottom of the second with one out before the umpires halted play a Hawk runner on base due to a supercell producing lightning and a tornado warning.
The delay lasted around 30 minutes before play resumed.
After a Jake Jansa fly out, the Hawks got to work producing runs. Will Brown drove in Gage Weishuhn in that inning with a single to left field to put the Hawks up 1-0.
“I don’t like having to go through [rain delays],” Schniers joked. “Most coaches will tell you the same thing. But our kids are pretty resilient. Anything you think might distract them or set them back a little, they always respond in a good way.”
The Hawks then opened the floodgates in the third and fourth innings, scoring 10 runs in 18 at-bats to silence Idalou.
“A couple of two out hits for us kind of opened it up,” Schniers said. “It allowed us to play more relaxed and it turned into a couple of big innings there. We kind of rolled with it after that.”
Brown finished the day 1-for-3 with one RBI for the Hawks offensively, continuing his hot form in the postseason for the Hawks. He also was able to drive in two runs on an error in the third inning.
“Will struggled a little in district and now he’s one of our hottest hitters,” Schniers said. “He hit a three-run home run against Slaton last week. He’s feeling good at the plate. He put up some tough at-bats for our team. It’s good to see Will having success.”
Virden let the Hawk’s offense by also going 2-for-3 with two RBIs, a double and a triple to his credit. Weishuhn and Tanner Seider posted identical stat lines, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.
The Hawks will look to complete the sweep at Snyder’s Moffett Field tomorrow with the first game slated for 5 p.m. and the if necessary game to follow 30 minutes after.
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