Published: May 14, 2008 09:52 am         

Wildcats sweep Wolves in area title series

By Craig Holamon
sports@mineralwellsindex.com

PONDER — The Santo Wildcats baseball team took back-to-back wins over the Wolfe City Wolves in a Class 1A area title series on Friday and Saturday at Ponder High School.

Santo opened the series on Friday with a dramatic 3-2 win.

Kevin Jones started on the mound for the Wildcats and took the win while John Baker picked up a save, according to Santo head baseball coach Randy Thornton.

Baker plated the game’s winning run with a sixth-inning home run.

Santo nailed down the area title with a 14-4 win on Saturday.

Bradley Thornton took the win on the mound while Colt Price, Ethan Chesnut, Payton Goen and J.T. Edwards each had key base hits for the Wildcats.

The win sets the stage for a one-game regional quarterfinals game between Santo and Trenton.

Trenton and Santo are set to play on Friday at 7 p.m. at Denton Guyer High School.

Thornton said his team had a solid performance in the area series.

“We played well against Wolfe City. We probably played the best two games we’ve played all season,” Thornton said.

The Santo coach said his team must keep playing well to stay alive in the state playoffs.

“I expect Trenton to have a good team. Teams that are still alive in the playoffs are going to be solid. I expect a good game,” the Wildcats coach said. “We’ve been doing a good job of throwing the ball, catching the ball and hitting the ball.”

Thornton said he has not decided who will start on the mound in Friday’s regional quarterfinals game against Trenton.