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Woods dominates at THS baseball wins at Lansing

By Justin Nutter - | May 6, 2013

Justin Nutter

Travis Woods threw the first shutout of his career in a 1-0 victory Monday at Lansing.

? When Lansing paid a visit to Tonganoxie last month, missed opportunities cost the Chieftains a chance to win. They whiffed on several scoring chances again in Monday’s rematch, but Travis Woods made sure that didn’t translate into another loss.

THS stranded 10 base runners scored its only run on a defensive error, but Woods threw a complete-game shutout to propel his team to a 1-0 win on the road. With the victory, the Chieftains improved to 5-4 in Kaw Valley League play.

“It’s always nice to get out with a season split,” coach Mitch Loomis said. “Any time we can get a league win and start establishing ourselves as a better team in this league, that’s big for us.”

After stranding a combined five runners in the second, third and fourth innings, the Chieftains (5-10 overall) finally got a run home in the fifth. Brady Swedo reached on an infield single and moved to second when Shane Levy was intentionally walked, then came around to score when James Grizzle reached on a throwing error by the third baseman.

That’s all the offense Woods needed, as the THS junior mowed down hitters for the remainder of the game. He allowed just three hits, struck out eight and walked one in his first career shutout. He was at his best late, retiring 12 of the Lions’ final 14 hitters.

“My arm felt good. I’ve had about a week and a half off, and I just went out there and threw strikes,” Woods said. “I knew I had the defense behind me. We need to hit the ball a little more, but other than that, we had a great game.”

THS had a chance to add some insurance runs when it loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, but Lansing forced a double play to stay within one run. The Chieftains also failed to score after loading the bases with nobody out in the third.

“We’ve got to be more aggressive with our swings,” Loomis said. “We’re getting in up counts in those situations, but we’re pushing the ball instead of looking for pitches that we can drive to the outfield.”

Offense was a premium for both teams, as the game included just nine total hits — eight of them singles. Swedo was the only Chieftain with a multi-hit game.

THS can further improve its league standing at 6 p.m. Tuesday when it welcomes Bonner Springs to town for a single game. The meeting with the Braves is the last that will count toward regional seeding.

Tonganoxie 1, Lansing 0

THS 000 010 0 — 1

LHS 000 000 0 — 0

Leading hitters: Brady Swedo 2-3; Colten Weaver 1-3; Brett Shelton 1-4; Connor Wentz-Hall 1-4.