Peebles right hander Alex Camp pitched the final two innings of the Indians’ 7-2 loss at Whiteoak on March 28.

Peebles falls to Whiteoak 7-2 –

Story by Mark Carpenter –
Photo by Tina Gordley –

All the baseball games in the county were washed out on Tuesday, March 28 except for one as the Peebles Indians were able to open their 2017 Southern Hills Athletic Conference campaign with a trip to Whiteoak to take on the Wildcats.  On rainy days when most other field are under water, the grass field at Whiteoak is often playable and that was the case on Tuesday.
The Indians had opened their 2017 spring  the previous Saturday, dropping a twinbill to Northwest and Portsmouth Clay, and the early season struggles for Coach Kenny Dick’s squad continued at Whiteoak as the Wildcats broke open a close game late and downed the visitors by a final score of 7-2.
The Wildcats struck first, getting two runs in the bottom of the first inning off of Peebles starter Ridge Cluxton  on a two-run homer from center fielder Trever Yeager.  The Indians sliced that deficit in half in the top of the third when first baseman Blake Stivers came home on a base hit by shortstop Stephen Penn.
The score remained at 2-1 until the bottom of the fourth when the Cats added one more and then the home team broke it open with a big four-run fifth that gave them a 7-1 advantage.
Peebles was able to score once in the top of the seventh , but that was it as Whiteoak evened their own record at 2-2 and dropped the Indians to 0-3 with a 7-2 triumph.
The Peebles offense was never able to get untracked, especially against Whiteoak starter Evan Brill, who went six innings and fanned 15 hitter.  For the Indians, Cluxton threw the first four innings, with Alex Camp getting the final two.
With Mother Nature’s blessing, the Indians were slated to host their home opener On Thursday, March 30, welcoming the Fairfield Lions to town for SHAC action.  On Saturday, April 1, the Peebles nine was scheduled to be on the road again, traveling to Western Latham for a non-conference tilt.