QUINCY — Extraordinary outings, like the 10-strikeout, five-hit complete game Travis Paynter tossed in Wilder’s 4-2 16-18U Senior Babe Ruth Regional opener against Calgary on Wednesday are becoming commonplace.
At least according to Wilder coach Mike Politika.
“He pitched like he normally does,” Politika said of Paynter.
“He threw lots of strikes, and they didn’t really challenge him.”
Politika said Calgary took advantage of a leadoff walk and some throwing errors to score a quick run in the top of the first.
“But Trav bounced back and struck out the side,” Politika said.
“He really settled down, got into a groove and rolled.”
Wilder took the lead in the bottom of the fourth.
Eathen Boyer scored on an RBI single by Tanner Gochnour and James Grubb followed up with a two-out single to plate Gochnour.
Gochnour opened the sixth inning with a double and later came home on a safety squeeze sacrifice by Grubb.
“He’s starting to turn it on at the right time,” Politika said of Gochnour.
Paynter encountered some troubles in the final frame, allowing one run on three straight singles.
“But he got a popup, a strikeout and a ground ball with the tying run on second to close it out,” Politika said.
For the most part, Politika liked what he saw from his team.
“It was a good start,” he said.
“We played solid baseball today. We were a little slow on the bats to begin with, but once we got we got to running the bases well and pushing them we were just fine.”
Wilder continues the 10-team double elimination regional tournament with a noon contest today against the Ephrata Rockhounds.
Wilder 4, Calgary Blues
Calgary 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 — 2 5 2
Wilder 0 0 0 2 1 1 x — 4 6 2
WP- Paynter
Pitching Statistics
Wilder: Paynter 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, ER, BB, 10 K
Hitting Statistics
Wilder: Hendry 1-2, RBI; Hurn 1-2, 2B; Boyer 1-3, R; Gochnour 2-3, 2 R, 2B, RBI; Grubb 1-2, 2 RBI, Sac.
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Compiled using team reports.
