May 5, 2004

Tigers blast Rose State 10-0, gain share of East title with Neosho loss

Getting another impressive performance from sophomore Josh Wahpepah on the mound and three more hits from freshman Brian Freeman, the Cowley County Community College baseball team cruised to a 10-0 eight-inning run-rule win over Rose State College Tuesday at City Ball Park.

However, the best news came from Chanute, where Highland split a doubleheader with host Neosho. The loss by Neosho clinched at least a share of the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division title for the Tigers.

Cowley is 25-9 in the Jayhawk East, while Neosho is 21-11. The Tigers wrap up conference play Saturday with a doubleheader at Fort Scott, while the Panthers will play a doubleheader at Independence tonight and a pair of games at Kansas City on Friday. A Cowley win or a Neosho loss gives the Tigers the conference title outright.

Against Rose State, Wahpepah and freshman reliever Ronnie Phillips combined on a two-hitter, with Wahpepah going the first six innings on the mound. The victory improves Wahpepah’s record to 9-1 on the season.

With the game scoreless after three innings of play, the Tigers broke it open with five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Cowley added two more runs in the fifth and three in the eighth as it improved to 34-16 on the season.

Freeman, who has nine hits in his last 18 at-bats, has raised his average to .324 on the season. Deik Scram added two hits and leads the Tigers with a .365 batting average.

Cowley travels to Great Bend for a single nine-inning game tonight at 6 against Barton County. On Thursday, the Tigers travel to Tonkawa, Okla., for a doubleheader against Northern Oklahoma College. The first game begins at 5 p.m.