By: Garrett Mitchell, Staff-Writer | garrett@thewoodrufftimes.com
Ashton Mock and the Woodruff baseball team had a point to prove. The statement was made.
The Wolverines demolished Walhalla in the first game of the 3A district baseball playoffs 8-2 on Monday night in a game that really was not as close as the final score. Mock pitched a complete game gem, the Wolverines got big hits up and down the lineup, and the 2025 Woodruff baseball team became the first Wolverine squad to win 20 games in a season in 36 years.
“We’re super excited because that’s the first time in 36 years that we’ve had a 20-win season,” said Woodruff head coach Wesley Brown. “That’s a testament to these guys and the two classes before. We’re trying to take the steps in front of us. We hit the fastball tonight. (Walhalla) is a good team.
We’re playing in the best district in the state, so we have our work cut out for us.”
Facing the Razorbacks’ ace Dalton Dial, Woodruff wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. Kayden Barnaby was hit by a pitch to lead off the first for Woodruff, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, to third on a throwing error, and scored on the first of sophomore catcher Brycen Davis’s three hits.
The Wolverines added two more in the second inning on Barnaby’s two-run single to take a 3-0 lead. Woodruff would never look back.
Connor Hitchcock roped an RBI single in the third, and another run was plated on a passed ball in the fourth. Freshman Colby Kelley busted the game wide open in the bottom of the fifth with a booming one-out, two-run double that made it 7-1. Davis plated the final run in the home sixth on a two-out single, his second run driven in on the night. Davis finished the night 3-3 with a walk and a double.
It was a superb offensive performance to complement Mock, who went the distance, allowing just one earned run on three hits over seven dominant frames while striking out six Walhalla batters.
Barnaby said it was a complete team effort.
“Today, when we got down here (to the field), I could just tell we were all locked in,” Barnaby explained. “I felt like we were going to have a good game. Mock has been grinding and battling all year, and I know when he goes out there to pitch, he’s going to give it all he’s got. Defensively, we are really confident, too.”
Barnaby finished 2-3 at the dish. Zach Kehn, Hitchcock, and Luke Cooper also added two hits apiece with Cooper belting a laser triple in the fourth.
Nate Sanchez knocked in the only earned run for the Razorbacks with a sacrifice fly in the seventh. Dial took the loss for Walhalla, surrendering seven runs on 10 hits in five innings.
Woodruff travels to Southside Christian, the state’s number one-ranked 3A team, in game two of the district round on Thursday night. On Monday, the Wolverines were at their best with two strikes, and Brown wants to see the patience and discipline at the plate continue.
“It’s a credit to these guys because we work on (two strike hitting) every day during batting practice,” said. “They came into tonight with a plan and approach, and it showed tonight. We had some big hits and scored in every inning offensively. That has everything to do with their approach at the plate and doing things they need to do to be successful.”
The Woodruff baseball program won just five games total between the 2021 and 2022 seasons, when Barnaby was just starting his career, but the Wolverines’ dynamic junior shortstop has been a major part of the program’s meteoric rise back to prominence over the last three seasons. He sees the opportunity against Southside Christian as another step in Woodruff baseball’s quest for a championship.
“It’s been great to be a part of (the turnaround),” added Barnaby. “The year before Coach Brown got here, we only had three wins. We started playing a lot better than the years before, and this year, with 20 wins, it’s been a lot of fun.”
Author: gmitchell85
