Sullivan Holds Off Late Casey-Westfield Rally to Secure 5-4 Victory

The Sullivan varsity baseball team built a comfortable early lead and withstood a late-inning surge to edge out non-conference visitor Casey-Westfield 5-4 on Saturday afternoon. After commanding the first five innings to build a five-run advantage, Sullivan’s bullpen had to bear down in the final frames to extinguish the visitors’ comeback hopes.

Sullivan established control in the bottom of the second inning, breaking a scoreless tie by pushing a pair of runs across the plate. The hosts kept the pressure on in the middle innings, adding two more runs in the fourth and a single insurance run in the fifth to build what appeared to be a commanding 5-0 lead.

Senior Zaden Hussong was the primary catalyst for the Sullivan offense, finishing the day 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Starting pitcher Christian Ogle also helped his own cause at the plate, ripping an RBI double to further pad the lead. Caden Saul proved to be a constant nuisance on the basepaths for Casey-Westfield, reaching base perfectly in all three of his plate appearances with a hit, two walks, and a stolen base.

On the mound, Ogle was locked in from the opening pitch. The sophomore starter blanked Casey-Westfield through the first five innings before running into trouble in the sixth. He ultimately earned the victory, allowing three runs on four hits while striking out five across 5.1 innings of work.

Trailing 5-0, Casey-Westfield’s offense finally awakened in the top of the sixth inning. The visitors erupted for a three-run rally, suddenly turning a lopsided contest into a tight 5-3 battle.

In the top of the seventh, Casey-Westfield continued to threaten, scratching across another run to cut the deficit to a single run. However, the Sullivan bullpen tandem of M. Robison and Easton Wickline successfully navigated the high-leverage situations. Robison struck out two over 1.1 innings, and Wickline secured the crucial final out to slam the door and preserve the 5-4 win for the home team.

Game Summary

Score by Quarters

(Note: Innings played)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|—|
| Casey-Westfield | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| Sullivan | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | 5 | 6 | 2 |

Scoring Drives

• 2nd Inning: Sullivan strikes first, plating a pair of runs in the bottom half to take a 2-0 lead.

• 4th Inning: Sullivan adds two more runs to extend their advantage to 4-0.

• 5th Inning: Sullivan tacks on a single run to build a commanding 5-0 lead.

• 6th Inning: Casey-Westfield’s offense awakens, rallying for three runs to cut the deficit to 5-3.

• 7th Inning: Casey-Westfield scratches across one run, but Sullivan’s bullpen holds on to secure the 5-4 victory.