Winchester West Central wins pitchers’ duel with Unity by scoring game’s lone run in eighth inning

WINCHESTER, Ill. — The ultimate pitchers’ duel ended in an opportunistic way.

After Mendon Unity right-hander Skylar Goudschaal and Winchester West Central right-hander Cameron Sievers matched each other by posting zeroes through 7½ innings, the Cougars took advantage of an error in the bottom of the eighth inning to plate the winning run in a 1-0 victory.

Goudschaal limited West Central to one hit — a two-out, first-inning single by the Cougars’ Carson Brown — and worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second before retiring the final 11 batters he faced. He struck out four and walked four.

Sievers was just as dominant, allowing just one hit as he lost the no-hit bid when the Mustangs’ Simon Rabe led off the top of the seventh inning with a single. A double play erased the runner and Sievers mowed down the final five batters he faced. He finished with seven strikeouts and just one walk.

In the bottom of the eighth, Unity reliever Brym Parrish walked West Central’s Dalton Hutton leading off and scored on an error when Sievers bunted and the throw got away.