Whiteland Community High School senior catcher Logan Mullinix likes what he sees in the second week of the baseball season.
“I feel like this offseason the team took strides from last season,” said Mullinix, whose team was 7-20 last season. “We took practice more serious, and it’s going to pay off this year.”
Mullinix had two hits, including a double and two runs batted in, to help lift the host Warriors to an 11-0 rout of Edinburgh in five innings Tuesday in the first round of the Johnson County Baseball Tournament.
Whiteland (2-1) will play Franklin in the semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday at Center Grove.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryThe Lancers were no-hit by three Whiteland pitchers. Senior Tyler Robinson pitched the first two innings, followed by two innings from sophomore Riley McMahon and one from sophomore Tyler Wick.
“I feel our pitching staff is a lot deeper,” Mullinix said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that can throw strikes and get the job done.”
Warriors coach Scott Sherry said the pitching effort was solid.
“We’re emphasizing throw strikes, throw strikes, you can’t walk guys,” Sherry said. “Defensively, we made some plays.”
Sophomore Luke Helton delivered two hits and three runs batted in. Senior Jacob Leistner had two hits, including a run-scoring double. Junior Nicolas Carrizales contributed a double and a sacrifice fly. Senior Bailey Watson added a run-scoring single.
Mullinix, who also drew a walk, is 4 for 6 in three games.
“I felt like it was a good game to get us ready for the upcoming week,” Mullinex said. “This will jump us into the season, let alone the county tournament.”
Sherry said the team did what they needed to do by putting the ball in play.
“We got a few opportunities early in the game,” said Sherry, whose team scored four runs in the first inning. “We got them down and took advantage of it.”
Edinburgh coach Jacob Burton was disappointed in his team’s start.
“We came out flat and never recovered from that,” said Burton, whose team committed five errors. “We made some uncharacteristic mistakes in the field and some mental mistakes early. That makes it tough to bounce back against a good team like Whiteland.
“I give Whiteland credit; they put the ball in play and had a lot of hard-hit balls. But ultimately it’s on us to make those plays.”
