Pony team improves to 12-2 on the year

HARTINGTON —The Hartington Pony team has been on a real tear lately.

The local baseball team moved to 12-2 with a stirring run of five wins last week.

The Pony team outscored their five opponents 59-9 in the five wins as pitching continues to be the key, including a complete shutout by Cole Rosener against Laurel in a 2-0 win.

On Sunday, the Ponies captured the Pierce Tournament title with an 8-4 win.

“I feel we are playing our best baseball right now,” Ponies head coach Don Whitmire said. “We have a lot of depth on the mound. ‘’

The Pony team ERA is just a touch over two and Hartington pitchers have combined to strike out 110 batters in 62 innings. As a team, the squad is hitting .347.

That combination of solid pitching and timely hitting has made the team very competitive, Whitmire said.

“Kody Sudbeck and Jaymison Cattau have really caught fire at the plate which makes our lineup much more dangerous,’’ he said.

Sudbeck had a three RBI double against West Point while Cole Bensen added two RBI as the Ponies pulled away with a three-run fifth frame.

The Ponies also beat the hosts (17-5) and Albion (11-0) en route to the Pierce tournament title.

Hartington used a 14-run second inning to pull away from Pierce as they managed to win behind 11 hits and six RBI thanks to four key errors by the hosts.

Brady Hochstein and Jared Rutar combined for a four-inning, one-hit per formance.

Breiton Whitmire tossed a 1-hit, 10-strikeout in the win over Albion.

Sudbeck had three RBI while Keaton Arens, Hochstein, Bensen and Nolan Heimes all added two RBI.

The Ponies started the week with a 21-0 win over Spencer in three innings.

Bensen had a team-high three hits and five RBI while Jaymison Cattau, Carter Kelly, Rosener and Breiton Whitmire all drove in two runs apiece.

“With all the depth and the strength of our pitching staff we need to get a little better at holding and controlling the opposing teams base runners,” coach Whitmire said. “Our pitchers are working on their slides steps and mixing up our looks with runners on. However, I am very happy with where we are at as a team.”

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