The only thing that slowed down the Wildcats baseball team last week was the weather. Cuba defeated Kingston handedly on March 31 before its scheduled April 2 matchup versus St. James was canceled due to the rain.

It’s still to be determined if the game against St. James will be rescheduled. Cuba’s scheduled April 1 junior varsity double header against Rolla was also cancelled and has been tentatively rescheduled for April 28 in Rolla.

Cuba is now 2-3 on the season and will have a week off before they are scheduled to play four days in a row from April 6 to April 9. The Wildcats will host Viburnum on April 6, Valley on April 7, Owensville on April 8 before playing in Steelville on April 9 in a matchup between Gasconade Valley Conference rivals.

March 31 vs. Kingston

The Wildcats returned to action after a week off and hosted the Kingston Cougars varsity and junior varsity teams. Cuba’s varsity team played first and controlled the game, thanks to a sparkling pitching performance from junior Braden Gipson.

Kingston scored their lone run in the top of the third inning and the Wildcats immediately responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Cuba’s 2-1 lead stayed the same until the fifth inning, when the Black and Gold used nifty baserunning and a timely double from senior catcher Adam Doyle to add two more runs to take a 4-1 lead. That would be all the run support Gipson would need, as Cuba cruised to a 4-1 win in a well played defensive game. 

Gipson pitched all seven innings on 89 pitches, striking out 12 Indians, scattering just four hits throughout the afternoon to earn the win. He now has a 0.58 earned run average so far this season in 12 innings on the mound.

Freshmen Layten Eikermann and Aiden Moreland each had two base hits and stole two bases and junior Logan McDonald laced two singles and stole a base for the Wildcats. Eikermann has collected a base hit in all five games so far this season.

Doyle doubled, drove in a run and threw out a runner leading off third base in the seventh inning that stifled any Kingston momentum. Fellow senior Wyatt McMillian singled, stole a base and knocked in a run. Junior Jesse Shireman also stole a base in the winning effort. Kingston senior Landon Owens pitched all six innings and struck out six batters in the loss.  

Cuba’s junior varsity baseball team picked up an 8-3 victory over Kingston in the second matchup of the day between the Wildcats and Indians.