Error-prone Worth County falls to Cook

SYLVESTER — When you see Worth County High School baseball coach Will Smith scowling in the dugout, you get the feeling he’s not upset about the trophy bass that broke his line and got away on an all-expense paid fishing trip.

The longtime coach was upset with his team’s performance Thursday night at Pope Park in a 7-1 loss to Cook, one in which the Rams could have taken command early in the Region 1-AAA standings against the perennial power Hornets.

Instead, the Rams committed more errors (seven) than the two teams combined for in hits (five) in a sloppily played game that hardly resembled Worth County’s 3-0 victory over Cook Wednesday night in the first game of the three-game set at Bruce Long Field in Adel.

“That was the worst game we’ve played in many years,” Smith scoffed.

And the Rams (9-3 overall, 1-1 Region 1-AAA) would have been shut out had it not been for Cook making an error with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning that allowed Jack Fletcher to score.

It didn’t help that Cook left-hander Cole Elliot stifled Worth County at the plate. The crafty pitcher likely didn’t throw any pitches more than 70 miles an hour, but his accuracy was as precise as a champion dart-thrower. Elliot was headed for a complete-game shutout until the Hornets’ two-out fielding blunder.

Elliot, who threw a handful of pitches in Wednesday night’s loss, reached his pitch count limit and had to be lifted. With Fletcher on base, Jake Souter was hit by a pitch, setting up DJ Edwards’ deep single that was enough to score Worth County’s only run.

But Cook (9-3, 1-1) induced a groundout to end the game.

Worth County finished with just two hits. Seth Newell singled in the second inning for the only other hit.

The Rams’ defense saddled starter Gabe Goff with a hard-luck loss. The sophomore went four and a third innings and allowed just one hit while his defense committed six errors behind him. None of his five runs were earned.

Worth didn’t help reliever Gabe Burger either, who pitched two innings before yielding to Bailey Coker, who finished the game. It was the first action of the season for the two relievers.

“It was good to see Gabe Goff get loose and get better as the game went on,” Smith said. “The outcome might could have been a little different had we played better defense.”

Goff refrained from pointing any fingers, instead saying Friday’s final game of the regular-season series between the two teams at 5 p.m. in Adel is a big one.

“We’ve just got to bounce back,” he said. “And forget about this one.”