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Whitman Loses Heartbreaker to Gaithersburg
April 15, 2008 --
Brian Gobish nearly pulled off a feat worthy of The Natural. He had already pitched six strong innings at Gaithersburg and collected two hits. Then, in the top of the seventh innning, with his team behind by a run, he knotted the score with a towering home run to left-center field, more than 365 feet away.
When the senior took the mound in the bottom of the inning, he had unfortunately thrown nearly 100 pitches. He ran out of steam, despite giving up only four hits during the entire game, and Gaithersburg eked out a 5-4 victory. With the loss, Whitman's record dropped to 5-3, 3-3 in league play.
Whitman jumped ahead in the first when Max Hilbert walked, advanced to second, and came home on a single up the middle by Gobish, who is hitting .483 on the season. Gaithersburg, which was ranked fourth in the metro area at the beginning of the season, countered with two runs in the bottom of the first to go ahead.
Whitman tied the game in the top of the third. Hilbert doubled and moved to third after an infield single by Gobish loaded the bases. He came home on a sacrifice fly by Brant Hester. But Gaithersburg came right back with two more runs to make it 4-2.
The Vikings plated another run in the sixth, when Ethan Thompson, who had two singles, hit a flair to right that drove in a run in the sixth inning. Dan Novak and Mike Lee also had two hits in the game.
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Whitman Defeats Springbrook, 10-3
April 7, 2008 --
Pitchers Brian Gobish and Reid Kellam combined to allow no earned runs as Walt Whitman handily defeated Springbrook 10-3 at home on Monday night. With the win, Whitman's record improved to 4-1 on the season, 2-1 in division.
The Viking pitchers allowed only three hits and struck out seven en route to the victory. Springbrook broke on top with three unearned runs on two errors in the top of the second. But the Vikings rallied for four runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good.
Chris Kelly led Whitman's potent offensive attack, which is producing more than 10 runs per game, with a 3-for-4 performance that included two doubles and an RBI. Brant Hester, Matt Kaler, and Ethan Thompson also drove in two runs apiece.
After falling behind 2-0, the Vikings scored four times in the second inning. Daniel Novak drove in the first run with a single. Ethan Thompson followed with a two-run single.
Two errors and a walk loaded the bases for Whitman in the fourth inning. Brian Gobish walked to force home one run. Then Brant Hester delivered a two-run double to make the score 7-2. Kelly followed with a single to make it 8-2.
Whitman scored two more runs in the fifth inning after Jesse Mates led off a double and Thompson reached on an error.
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Williams and Hester Lead Whitman to Victory Over Poolesville
April 11, 2008 --
After falling behind early, Walt Whitman battled back to earn a 7-6 victory at Poolesville on the strength of six strong innings from Junior Danny Williams (2-0).
Brantley Hester led the way offensively with a booming home run, a double, and four RBIs as Whitman improved its record to 5-2, 3-2 in division play.
After suffering a power outage in their previous game against Richard Montgomery, the Vikings pounded out 12 hits against Poolesville. Max
Hilbert, Matt Kaler, Brian Gobish, Mike Lee, and Hester each collected two hits.
Williams gave up only three earned runs and struck out six en route to the victory. He also reached base three times to raise his average to .400. Reid Kellam pitched the seventh inning to earn the save.
Poolesville led 3-1 after the first inning, but the Vikings scored twice to knot the score in the third. They scored once in the fourth, and three times in the fifth to take a seemingly commanding 7-3 lead. Poolesville scored two runs in the sixth to pull within two runs.
In the seventh, Poolesville had runners on first and third with one out when the batter grounded to shortstop Matt Kaler. Kaler threw to first to get the batter, with the runner on third scoring. The other runner was gunned down when he tried to go from first to third on the play.
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Walt Whitman Outduels Albert Einstein
April 3, 2008 --
Not even the cold or the rain could stop the Walt Whitman Vikings as they pounded Einstein 10-1 on Thursday in a game called for bad weather after five innings. Mike Lee picked up the victory for the 4-1 Vikings. Dan Williams pitched three strong innings of relief.
Despite brutal playing conditions, Max Hilbert managed to go a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBIs, two doubles, and two runs scored. Hilbert tied a Whitman record last year by scoring 24 runs.
Coach Joe Cassidy's Vikings took advantage of the poor conditions to steal six bases. Matt Kaler and Ethan Thompson each stole two. Hilbert and Jesse Mates also stole a base.
The Vikings struck for four runs in first, two in the second, and another four in the third inning, before their attention turned to making the game official.
Matt Kaler went two-for-three in the game, with two RBIs, two runs scored, and a walk to go with his stolen base. Thompson reached base each time and scored three runs.
Pundits watched the game closely for proof that poets are smarter and stronger than physicists.
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Whitman Opens Regular Season with Tough Loss to Blake
March 31, 2008 --
The baseball gods picked a tough day for Whitman and Blake to open their regular season. Sloppy conditions produced 15 combined errors, 21 walks, and a 10-9 extra-inning Blake victory.
Whitman came from behind three times to tie the score, once battling from five runs back, only to lose the game on a miscue in the eighth inning. Brantley Hester drove in three runs for the Vikings and Ethan Thompson recorded three hits.
After Blake scored two times in the first, the Vikings returned the favor with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Ethan Thompson and Max Hilbert both singled. A walk to Matt Kaler loaded the bases. Brian Gobish walked to force in the first run. Chris Kelly hit a groundball to second to bring home the second.
Blake was ahead 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth, when Daniel Novak drove home Kelly, who had doubled earlier in the inning. Whitman scored twice more in the fith inning to tie the score, 5-5. But Blake nearly batted around the order in the sixth inning, scoring five times to make it 10-5.
Whitman wasn't done yet. The Vikings scored five runs in the bottom of the inning on only two hits, sending all nine batters to the plate. Each team scored a loan run in the seventh inning. Matt Kaler doubled and, after two walks, came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Brant Hester.
Two Viking errors in the top of the eighth resulted in a Blake run. Whitman put two runners on in the bottom of the inning but couldn't even the score.
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Whitman Sweeps Doubleheader
March 26, 2008 --
The Walt Whitman Vikings opened the varsity baseball season in spectular fashion trouncing Richard Montgomery and Paint Branch in a doubleheader at Paint Branch.
In the opener, the Vikings defeated RM by a 25-13 score. Whitman beat Paint Branch 20-9 in the second game. Both games ended by slaughter after five innings.
The Vikings, presaging the potency of their regular-season lineup, put on a hitting clinic in these warm-ups, pounding out 44 hits over 10 innings.
In the first game, senior Mike Lee pounded out four hits, including a homerun over the "green monster" in left. Max Hilbert, Jesse Mates, and Brian Gobish also had three hits.
Freshman Henry Kuhn, playing his first varsity game, went two-for-five with two RBI and two runs scored.
Whitman put up a 10 spot in the first inning and never looked back, adding six more runs in the third and the fifth.
The highlights of the second game were a perfect five-for-five performance by Matt Kaler that included a homer, a double, and five RBI, and a 390-foot blast over the right-center field fence by Danny Lee, upstaging the home run hit by his older brother in the first game.
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