Wildcat baseball hosted Hemphill in front of a large crowd in Polk County Tuesday night, as Onalaska’s bats carried them to 9-3 victory over the Hornets.
Onalaska got on the scoreboard first when Wyatt Reyes led off the bottom of the third inning with a single. He was followed by a Thad Lilley double, then a sacrifice fly to left to score Reyes, putting Onalaska up, 1-0.
In the bottom of the fourth, Brayden Topkins was hit by a pitch, then a single to center by Ty Phillips put two runners on base. Jarrett Purkerson singled to score Topkins and a balk scored Phillips, making it 3-0 Onalaska.
In the top of the fifth, Hemphill drew a walk, doubled and scored two runs on two wild pitches, putting the Hornets within a run at 3-2 Onalaska.
The Wildcats broke the game open in the bottom of the inning with four consecutive hits from Patrick Roth, Jake Gibson, Topkins, and Blaine De La Cerda, who picked up an RBI. Purkerson collected two more RBIs with a single to center. He promptly stole second and scored on a slow roller to shortstop that Conner Ruiz beat at first for an infield hit. Then, with Ruiz on base and two out, Reyes hit a laser over the fence in left field for his first high school home run, giving the Wildcats a 9-2 lead.
The Hornets added a run in the sixth, but their output stopped there.
Reyes went 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs. Purkerson went 2-for-2 with three RBIs and a run, Brayden Topkins pitched three innings, allowing no runs on three hits and struck out six.
District begins for Onalaska Friday night against Anderson-Shiro in Anderson at 7 p.m.
