NICEVILLE — Will West made one mistake.
Before the Niceville junior struck out 10 and ended the night with a glowing line of one earned run on a hit over six innings – par for the course in a season where he’s allowed just one run in four appearances – the right-hander gave up a first-inning, RBI single to Crestview’s Colter Hancock.
Zach DeGraaf, who led off the inning with a walk, trotted home to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
For awhile it appeared that lone blip would cost him.
But the Bulldogs made sure West wouldn’t be the tough-luck loser.
Crestview starter Travis Wiljakainen had two errant pickoff throws in the sixth inning, and the subsequent throwing errors allowed Grant Hooten and Chase Outzen to score to lead the Eagles(7-1) to a 2-1 District 1-7A win over the Bulldogs (6-5) at The Hill.
“Whenever we play Crestview, it’s always close,” Niceville coach Joe Nedoroscik said. “We could be winless all year and they could be undefeated and you’d get a 2-1 ball game. That’s just how it is. When we play against each other, the teams just seem to get up and want to play.”
Wiljakainen struck out seven but walked eight and allowed three hits over 5 2/3 innings. Too often he resorted to pickoff throws, none of which resulted in an out. The catcher visits to the mound escalated into the dozens and pickoff throws were too plentiful to count.
In the end, that cost him.
“We said the law of averages is on our side,” Nedoroscik said. “He threw a lot over to first base and we were hoping he’d throw one past and he did. I don’t know what happened on the one to second, but we’ll take it.”
The rally started with one out in the sixth inning on a single from pinch hitter Hooten. A threat to steal, the junior capitalized on the errant pickoff by advancing to third. Then the throw from foul grounds in right field skipped past third and Hooten took home.
On the decision to bring Hooten in, “Nedoroscik said, “He had a good day when were batting today. I just had a feeling he’d get on base. He’s been swinging the bat good and he came in and made me look good.”
Outzen then walked, stole second and advanced to third on Wiljakainen’s throw in the outfield, which was bobbled to allow Outzen to score.
Trevin Eubanks came in to earn the save after striking out two and allowing just a walk.
The Eagles had their chances earlier.
In the second inning, Zander Huff and Outzen were stranded at second and third with no outs after a double steal.
In the third inning, Tyler Head was thrown out at home by Corey Armstrong on a Jacob Clark double to the gap in left center field.
In the fifth, Brady Smith and Head failed to deliver with Christian Manthey in scoring position.
But all those miscues paled in comparison to Crestview, which would love to have that sixth inning back.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Errors costly as Crestview falls to Niceville