With the district tournament beginning on Saturday, the Wright City baseball team has been playing games at the frequency of a major league team.The Wildcats competed four times over the course of three days, winning each time.It began last Thursday with a dominant 17-0 victory over New Haven on Senior Day.“We’re starting to come together,” said Coach Shannon Wells. “We’re on to the kids about giving a constant good effort, because it’s now or never at this time of the year. We don’t want to be one and done at districts.”Wright City unloaded 16 hits and took advantage of numerous fielding errors by New Haven.“Everyone seemed to hit really well, and we were able to get all the seniors in to play tonight,” said Wells. “It was a memorable night for those guys.”He was pleased with how well his team operated on the base paths, causing the Shamrocks to make constant split-second decisions.“The past couple practices we had been working on first and third situations and how to run,” said Wells. “I thought the kids did a good job of trying to take the extra base when they made those mistakes. They hustled and gave good effort.”For Dallas Deroy, Friday’s game was a chance to enjoy the final stages of his prep career after missing the first several weeks of his senior season with mono.“Once I was cleared to play there was a lot of pressure, and I was nervous that I would perform like a senior should,” said Deroy. “So the whole pressure-free aspect of today let me stay comfortable and play my game.”Deroy set the tone early, ultimately striking out four and walking three batters through four innings.“I messed with mechanics right before the game, and it paid off,” said Deroy. “My off speed was working, and normally it doesn’t, so that was the deciding factor in how I pitched.”“Dallas came out and had a good start with a nice, quick inning,” added Wells. “He threw strikes pretty well and threw ground balls and made them put it in play. For the most part, we backed him up pretty well.”Donnie Burbank closed out the final inning on the mound for Wright City.The Wildcats scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning, as Austin Marsh led off with a single and Troy Muse followed with a triple.Another triple, by Deroy, helped Marsh score a second time as Wright City tacked on four more runs in the second.Marsh was responsible for all three RBIs off a double in the third inning, as the Wildcats moved ahead 9-0.The Wildcats’ most productive inning was the fourth, during which they cranked out eight runs. Four different players hit, with Andrew Pfuhl collecting a pair of doubles.Wright City decreased its number of runners left on base, stranding just four.One of the Wildcats’ primary concerns heading into the season was the lack of experienced pitching, but it has proven to be less of a factor than anticipated. Wright City’s stellar and overall solid defense has helped guide the team to a 14-10 record.“We’ve spent a lot of time working on making sure we’re throwing strikes and having the defense to back them up,” said Wells. “We’ve hit well enough, so I think the key has been being able to back our pitchers up with defense and run support.”WILDCATS WIN BUSY STRETCHDerrick Forsythe Photo.