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Indian River junior Max Wilkinson has been around the diamond long enough to see epic battles against Sussex Central.
Whether it came from watching his older brother Bo against the Golden Knights or playing them himself, the Indians junior first baseman knows what it takes out of a team to beat its chief rival.
Wednesday when the clubs met up in Georgetown for the first of their two annual showdowns, Wilkinson did everything he could to lead the Indians to a victory.
He finished the day 2-for-3 with three RBI to lead IR at the dish, but one of Wilkinson’s best at bats might have come in the top half of the eighth inning with a runner on second and no outs in an 8-8 ballgame. Wilkinson grounded out during the at bat, but did so on the right side of the diamond, as he moved the runner, who eventually scored on a sac fly, over to third base.
Following the win, Wilkinson took the time to answer a few questions for the Sussex Countian.
Q Obviously you want to win any game, but how good does it feel to beat Central?
A This is a game everybody gets up for, they are our biggest rival. We play them twice [a season] and they have gotten us the last few times. All of us really wanted this win.
Q When Central tied the game in the bottom of the seventh, what was said before your team’s next at bat?
A All of us just got together and said “this game isn’t over.” We knew we had to score some runs any way we could and that we needed to be productive. Obviously it worked, because we got seven.
Q You had a good day at the plate, what was your approach?
A All I do is wait to get my pitch. I’m not looking to hit a home run, just have a productive at bat, even if I don’t get a hit. I did that in the last inning, something like moving a runner up a base can be just as important.
Q After struggling against Milford, what was the difference here?
A I don’t really know, other than we just didn’t play well against [Milford]. Nothing seemed to go right for us. This game wasn’t pretty, but we played a lot better.
Q Is winning the conference still a realistic goal?
A Yeah, it’s still early in the season and we’ve only lost twice. I think we can win the [Henlopen] South and the conference, as long as we keep improving.
Indian River junior Max Wilkinson has been around the diamond long enough to see epic battles against Sussex Central.
Whether it came from watching his older brother Bo against the Golden Knights or playing them himself, the Indians junior first baseman knows what it takes out of a team to beat its chief rival.
Wednesday when the clubs met up in Georgetown for the first of their two annual showdowns, Wilkinson did everything he could to lead the Indians to a victory.
He finished the day 2-for-3 with three RBI to lead IR at the dish, but one of Wilkinson’s best at bats might have come in the top half of the eighth inning with a runner on second and no outs in an 8-8 ballgame. Wilkinson grounded out during the at bat, but did so on the right side of the diamond, as he moved the runner, who eventually scored on a sac fly, over to third base.
Following the win, Wilkinson took the time to answer a few questions for the Sussex Countian.
Q Obviously you want to win any game, but how good does it feel to beat Central?
A This is a game everybody gets up for, they are our biggest rival. We play them twice [a season] and they have gotten us the last few times. All of us really wanted this win.
Q When Central tied the game in the bottom of the seventh, what was said before your team’s next at bat?
A All of us just got together and said “this game isn’t over.” We knew we had to score some runs any way we could and that we needed to be productive. Obviously it worked, because we got seven.
Q You had a good day at the plate, what was your approach?
A All I do is wait to get my pitch. I’m not looking to hit a home run, just have a productive at bat, even if I don’t get a hit. I did that in the last inning, something like moving a runner up a base can be just as important.
Q After struggling against Milford, what was the difference here?
A I don’t really know, other than we just didn’t play well against [Milford]. Nothing seemed to go right for us. This game wasn’t pretty, but we played a lot better.
Q Is winning the conference still a realistic goal?
A Yeah, it’s still early in the season and we’ve only lost twice. I think we can win the [Henlopen] South and the conference, as long as we keep improving.
