A leadoff man is supposed to set the tone for the game, but in Shane Fencl's case Saturday morning, he pretty much decided the game from the top of the order for Douglas High.
Fencl led off with a double in the top of the first against Wooster and advanced to third on a bobble in right field. He scored two outs later on a deep fly to right from Kameron Van Winkle and that proved to be the only run of the day as Douglas held on for a 1-0 win in Reno.
"We are ecstatic to get out of there with a win," Douglas coach Bruce Jacobsen said. "Wooster's a good team, they do the right things and they really played a great game."
Van Winkle picked up the win on the mound, striking out nine and scattering four hits in the complete game shutout. He got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam early on with a pair of strikeouts and cruised from there.
"Kameron was tremendous today," Jacobsen said. "The score was close, but we felt like he was in control the whole game. He was just dominant at times."
The Douglas offense was slowed by Wooster pitcher Dalton Mendoza. Mendoza kept the Tigers off balance with a steady diet of curves and changes, scattering four hits himself.
"He's a guy like no other I have seen, just in the low velocity of his pitches and the amount of off-speed stuff he throws," Jacobsen said. "He gets outs. He probably threw less than 70 pitches in seven innings and he gets the job done. A lot of teams in the league are going to struggle with him this year."
Fencl was the only Tiger to advance past second base. He finished with two hits and Walker Gemmill and Tanner Egan each had one.
With the win, Douglas closed out a grueling five-game week with three wins and two losses.
The Tigers will have four games in six days in the coming week, closing out season series with both Reed and Wooster to start the week and closing out with Spanish Springs.
"Finishing off the week the way we did, it gives us a chance to get back into it," said Jacobsen. "We just have to stay on top of it this week and keep getting better."
