Baseball: Wullenweber's 15 Ks power Basha

March 21, 2017 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Kyle Wullenweber took matters into his own hands Tuesday pitching Basha baseball to another power-ranking victory.

The senior left-hander had to be sharp as he was nearly matched pitch for pitch by Desert Mountain right-hander Trey Dillard. Wullenweber received the help he needed -- an RBI from leadoff hitter Ty Siffermann -- that provided the Bears a 1-0 win over the Wolves in a 6A game at Basha High.

"We needed a good effort today because their kid was very good, too," Basha coach Jim Schilling said. "Kyle did a nice job for us at the end of last season with the injuries we had. He's stepped in and pitched like we thought he would. Today he was exceptional."

Wullenweber, who tossed a two-hitter and fanned 15, has pitched more in relief thus far, but with nothing but power-ranking gamees left on the schedule he'll see regular starts along with junior left Michael Perzan. Basha is 12-3-1 overall, 6-1 in power-ranking games. Desert Mountain dropped to 8-8, 4-1 prg.

In Tuesday's start, only his second of the year in 16 games, Wullenweber struck out at least two batters in every inning, He allowed a second-inning single to Jack Silverman and leadoff double to Mondo Romero in the third. The only other base runner was Paul Sachen (walk to open the fourth). Wullenweber retired the last 12 hitters in a row.

The game's lone run scored in the bottom of the fifth. Trevor Dorn drew a one-out walk and Siffermann, a sophomore, hitting in the leadoff spot, laced a triple into the right-field corner to plate Dorn.

Other than that, Dillard was outstanding for Desert Mountain. He struck out nine and surrendered three hits. Strikeouts to end the second and fourth got him out of minor scrapes. He buckled down in the fifth keeping the game at 1-0 with the bases loaded and one out. A strikeout and liner to second finished the frame.

"The big thing today for Kyle was his change-up was working, the best it's been," Schilling said. "He gets ahead with his fastball, and has a good curve. The curve and change-up made him really tough."