Whitworth, Peterson lead Culver past Oregon-Davis

Next up: vs. Elkhart Christian, 12:30 p.m. Eastern today

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Baseball

Culver 7, Oregon-Davis 2 (Friday): Cam Whitworth did not allow an earned run in three innings of relief, and he also had a double and an RBI at the plate to lead Culver to a wire-to-wire win over Oregon-Davis in a Class 1A, Sectional 51 quarterfinal at South Central (Union Mills) Friday.

Fellow senior Adam Peterson singled and walked and had two RBIs. Drake Zorich had two hits and an RBI, and Hunter Albert also had two hits. Caleb McCuen and Owen Tanner had one hit each.

Caleb McCuen pitched 2 ⅔ hitless innings to start the game and walked two and struck out six. Whitworth followed and allowed two hits and no walks while striking out three. Jonas McCuen finished and allowed one hit and one run over 1 ⅓ innings. He walked one, hit two batters and struck out four.

Caleb McCuen threw 37 pitches, Whitworth threw 37 pitches, and Jonas McCuen threw 34 pitches, and it is believed all three will be eligible to pitch in Culver’s semifinal game against Elkhart Christian at 12:30 p.m. Eastern today.

Caleb McCuen led off the game by reaching on an error, stealing second and third and scoring on an error by the catcher.

Peterson’s RBI bunt single in the second made it 2-0. Whitworth was hit by a pitch in the third, stole second and third and scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0.

O-D scored on an error in the fifth, but Culver answered with three more runs in the sixth. Drake Zorich scored on an error, Peterson had an RBI groundout, and Whitworth had an RBI double that scored Caleb McCuen.

Zorich had an RBI single in the seventh to score Braylon Jackson, pinch-running for Albert.

O-D scored in the bottom of the seventh, but the game ended with Jonas McCuen recording a bases-loaded strikeout.

Culver improved to 7-14. O-D finished 2-16.

Culver beat Elkhart Christian 10-1 in their regular season meeting April 21.

Culver 7, Oregon-Davis 2

Culver 111 003 1 – 7 8 4

Oregon-Davis 000 010 1 – 2 3 3

WP – Cam Whitworth (3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K)

LP – Cooper (7 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 1 HBP, 8 K)

2B – Cam Whitworth (CUL), Blackburn (O-D)