Local

Rebels baseball bombs Cherryville

MIKE POWELL, LTN Sports Correspondent

March 18, 2002 - CHERRYVILLE — It’s a rare night when a storied baseball program like Cherryville takes a drubbing at home.

To make matters worse, this old-fashioned whipping came at the hands of arch-rival West Lincoln.

The Rebels needed only five innings to finish the Ironmen Friday, winning 11-1 in a game shortened by the 10-run mercy rule.

The performance was further evidence that West Lincoln’s 6-0 start is for real.

Friday’s win gave the Rebels a sweep of the season series with the defending state 1A champion.

Chris Halubka pitched his second three-hitter against Cherryville this season. He retired six straight batters before giving up a solo homer in the fourth by Antone Little, whose shot enabled Cherryville to avert the shutout.

In two games versus the Ironmen, Halubka has allowed one run while recording 17 strikeouts.

Halubka was not the only West Lincoln player in a zone. Catcher David Wise had the offensive game of his career. Wise had two homers, a single and six RBI off Cherryville starting pitcher Steven Justice, who was mercifully lifted in the fourth inning.

Wise hit a three-run shot in the first inning to get West off to its fast start, driving the ball onto the roof of Nixon Gym beyond the right field fence. He followed with a two-run homer to center field in the second, and collected his sixth RBI in the third as part of a five-run scoring flurry.

Two walks and a hit batsmen got runners on base for Wise’s bases-clearing homers in back-to-back innings.

Jay Heafner added two hits in three trips for West Lincoln, which outscored Cherryville 14-1 in the two-game set.

West Lincoln scored 10 runs in the first three innings off of Justice and cruised the rest of the way.

Cherryville, which lacks a dominant pitcher for the first time in years, saw its record drop to 2-4.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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