Onalaska baseball couldn’t overcome mistakes on the road Friday night to open district against the Anderson-Shiro, losing 9-4 to the Owls.
The Wildcats left 10 runners on base and committed four errors in the field.
The ‘Cats threw the first punch in the top of the first inning. Starting with a two-out walk by Thad Lilley, Jake Gibson followed with a single to right field. Brayden Topkins singled to left field, scoring Lilley. Blaine De La Cerda was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Gibson scored on a wild pitch to give Onalaska a 2-0 lead.
Anderson struck back in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases on three pitches, then a walk got the Owls on the scoreboard. A single and an error allowed them to score three more runs.
Leading 4-2 after the first inning, the Owls added three more runs in second on another costly error by the Wildcats, giving Anderson a 7-2 lead.
Lilley started the third inning for the Wildcats with a walk. He stole second, then third and scored on an RBI-single from De La Cerda. With two outs in the fourth, Patrick Roth singled and scored on an RBI-double by Lilley to put the Wildcats within three at 7-4.
Onalaska threatened in the fifth inning, loading the bases and putting the tying run on first, but they couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity. Anderson-Shiro scored two more runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Thad Lilley went 1-for-2 with a double, two walks, two runs, an RBI, and two stolen bases. Brayden Topkins went 1-for-3 with a walk and RBI.
Next up, the Wildcats take on the Trinity Tigers at home Tuesday night and in Trinity Friday night.
