File photo
Ferndale’s Jarrett Smith got his first win of the new season on the mound on Thursday, as the Wildcats got in a much-needed game.
The Cats welcomed Hayfork to Ferndale and shut out the Timberjacks 3-0 to go to 2-0.
Smith threw five innings of no-hit ball for the win, while allowing one walk and striking our eight.
And he was efficient with his pitches.
“I thought Jarrett threw really well,” Ferndale head coach Justin Andersen said. “The most pitches he threw in an inning was 14. He was efficient and he kept attacking the zone.”
Freshman Cade Renner pitched the final two innings to preserve the no-hitter as he continues to impress in his first season of high school ball.
Renner walked one and struck out three.
The young player also pitched one inning in relief in a 15-8 win at Willits in the Cats’ season opener earlier in the week.
“I thought today our pitching was a lot better,”
Andersen said. “Both guys threw strikes and were able to keep their pitch count down.”
The Wildcats opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first inning and they made it stick, adding a second run in the second and a third in the fifth.
Hayfork pitcher Sam Jessee was almost as impressive as his Ferndale counterparts.
The senior gave up just three hits in a complete-game performance.
Tanner Pidgeon had one of Ferndale’s three hits, finishing 1-for-3 with a double and scoring a run, while Parker Prior continued this fast start to the new season and went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Luke Dixon also was 1-for-3 for Ferndale.
Andersen, however, felt the players’ pitch selection at the plate could have been better as they settle into the new season after their first five games of the year were all canceled because of the weather and field conditions.
“Our pitch selection did not help us today,” the coach said. “We were swinging at pitches we would normally let go.”
Part of that could be down the players’ eagerness after missing so many early-season games.
Next up, the Cats are scheduled to play neighbor and rival Fortuna on the newly renovated Scotia field on Friday night at 6 p.m.
That game, however, remains in the balance because of the weather and a call on whether to play or not will be made around noon on Friday.
If the field is unavailable, that game could go ahead at the Bear River Casino Resort all-weather field on Saturday.
