![Maddox Pennington delivers a pitch in a game vs. Vincennes on Feb. 21 [Photo by Jonathan Leach].](/sports/bsb/2022-23/PENNINGTON_WORKS.jpg?max_width=450)
MT. CARMEL, Ill. -- Wabash Valley jumped to a quick 5-0 lead and made it stand up for a 9-4 baseball victory over the Oakland City JV squad on Wednesday at Fournier Field.
The 10th-ranked Warriors won their fourth straight game and eighth in their last 11 to improve to 11-6 on the season.
It did not take long for the Warrior offense to get started. Leadoff hitter Rich Bonomolo took the second pitch he saw and parked it over the fence for a home run, his second of the season, the first of two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Michael Lareau hit a triple which drove home Landen Johnson, who had walked, to make it 2-0.
Wabash Valley added three more runs in the second, all with two out. Luke Odden bunted his way on and moved to second base when Bonomolo reached on an error. A double steal then moved both runners up, just ahead of a walk to Nick Williams to load the bases.
A walk to Johnson produced the first run of the inning, followed by a 2-run single by Bruce Jellison that hiked the lead to 5-0.
Oakland City countered with three runs in the top of the third to cut the deficit to 5-3. WVC added one run in the fifth, two in the sixth and one more in the seventh to make it 9-3. The Mighty Oaks added one run in the top of the ninth to account for the 9-4 final.
Jellison led off the fifth with his second home run of the season. Mack Mitchell drove home two runs with a single in the sixth, and Isaias Villarreal brought the final run in with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Lareau, Odden, and Jellison each finished with two-hit days at the plate, with Jellison leading the way with 3 RBIs.
Wabash Valley used a total of eight pitchers in the game. After starter Maddox Pennington worked the first two innings, a parade of one-inning outings followed from, in order, Cade Schneider, Sam Mettert, Aiden Deakins, Manuel de Gracia, Isaac Seeger, McGwire Taylor, and Cohl Proctor.
WVC outhit the Oaks on the day, 11-5. Both teams committed one error.
Aaron Biddle's club plays four games this weekend at Vincennes, beginning with a 1:00 p.m. CST game on Friday against Great Rivers Athletic Conference rival Lincoln Trail (8-5), in a game that will not count in the conference standings. That comes later when the two will square off in a regular Thursday-Saturday series.