Sumner baseball makes a statement: ‘If we’re on, no one’s beating us’
Wyatt Plyler didn’t feel like he had his best stuff on the mound Tuesday afternoon against visiting Emerald Ridge.
“Today I had my ‘C’ stuff, battled through for my boys,” he told The News Tribune after the game.
Plyler gave up two hits and no runs over five innings, walking three and striking out 10. If that’s as bad as it gets, Sumner’s in pretty good shape.
“If your C+ game, you give up zero runs, I’ll take that every day of the week,” Sumner coach Dylan Mclauchlin said, laughing. “It was good stuff. He got into bad counts, a lot of full counts, which isn’t usually like him, but he found ways to get out of it. Once again, dude loves to compete.”
Sumner didn’t need a full seven innings, posting a 10-0 mercy rule win over Emerald Ridge, which has been one of the 4A SPSL’s top programs this spring. But in the field and at the plate, the Spartans were better than the Jaguars.
The Spartans took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a Jake Miller double. Miller, who has been a hitting machine with runners in scoring position this season, delivered again in the sixth inning, knocking in another run with a hit in the sixth.
“It’s honestly just trusting my bat skills,” Miller said of his success delivering with runners on base this spring. “All the season, all the work I put in in the offseason, just putting it out on the field, seeing balls, outside corners, taking it oppo, just trying to do my job to get them in.”
Mclauchlin is practically expecting a clutch hit when Miller steps up to the plate these days.
“If there’s guys on base, I feel like the baseball gets bigger for him,” he said.
In total, Sumner collected 12 hits and seven walks, scoring two runs in the first, five in the third and three in the sixth.
The highlight was left fielder Bryce Carl’s three-run home run to left field in the third inning. Mclauchlin, who works third base when Sumner is up to bat, joked that he was happy not to have a pulled line drive screaming in his direction from Carl.
“Didn’t pull a ball and it didn’t kill me, so that’s all I care about,” he said, laughing. “He’s missed a few this year, gotten a lot of warning track.”
Not this time.
“He’s a great hitter,” Mclauchlin said.
Sumner moves to 13-2 with the win and will face Emerald Ridge in the series finale on Wednesday.
“We’re just gonna get after it tomorrow, again,” Miller said.
The Spartans certainly have the confidence and feel they’re peaking at the right time.
“I think we’re the best team in the state,” Plyler said. “If we’re on, no one’s beating us.”
This story was originally published April 21, 2026 at 8:51 PM.
