Cats with Bats back on top

Catamount baseball is officially underway and the Cats with Bats are back on top after a winning weekend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, at the Baseball at the Beach tournament.

WCU Catamounts takes on the Chants at home in Conway, SC. Photo courtesy of Catamount Sports.

After a tough loss on Friday to St. Johns with a score of 14-3 the Catamounts bounced back against the College World Series Champions, Coastal Carolina with a win of 5-4.

Bryan Sammons, who went through eight innings tallied the win and is now tied ninth for career wins at Western. The closer, Korey Anderson, helped save the game by tossing 1.2 innings and having back-to-back strikeouts.

“The game was exciting and competitive .The environment was crazy. Was a huge opportunity for me and the team and I just tried keeping it simple and not do too much. Guppie (Sammons) pitched his butt off and I was glad I got to come in after and close the game with a strikeout,” Anderson, said in a phone conversation after the game. 

Korey Anderson closes the game with a strikeout.
Photo courtesy of Korey Anderson.

Other notable players are Matthew Koehler, Cameron Blaquiere, Bryson Bowman and Andrew Bullock who all helped get the early jump on the board while Caleb Robinson got the final run to boost the Cats 5-4 over the Chanticleers.

 “It was awesome being able to come back out and play again after a whole year of being injured and playing Coastal in their home stadium listening to their fans talk smack to us the whole time but following it with a win was great,” outfielder Matthew Koehler said.

After the Sunday, Feb. 19, matchup win against North Carolina A&T the Cats have a 2-1 start to the season but a long way to go to reach Omaha.

The next matchup will be a rematch between the regional champions in Clemson on Wednesday, Feb. 22. With the first home series in Cullowhee on Friday, Feb. 24,  against Marshall at 4 p.m.