<p>For the Daily Journal</p>
<p>Luke Helton struck out 11 and his teammates backed him up with stellar defense to lead Whiteland to a huge 5-1 baseball win against visiting Mooresville on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Helton faced the minimum through four innings and pitched through his only rough inning. The Warriors, meanwhile, scored four runs over the final two innings to pull away for the win.</p>
<p>“Luke was outstanding tonight on the mound and he has been outstanding all season long,” Whiteland coach Scott Sherry said. “We made routine plays tonight and didn’t kick it or throw it around and that’s baseball. If you get good pitching and good defense you’re going to be in a competitive game, and we were.”</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
<p>The victory allowed Whiteland (13-9, 7-2) to break a tie with the Pioneers atop the Mid-State Conference standings with a week and a half left in the season. The two teams will play again today in Mooresville.</p>
<p>Helton allowed a infield single in the first inning but promptly picked him off to start a streak of 11 straight batters the junior righty sat down in order. Mooresville finally broke through in the fifth, using three singles to score its first run, but Helton responded with a strikeout to leave the bases loaded.</p>
<p>That run by Mooresville allowed the Pioneers to tie the game at 1-1. Whiteland’s Chase Bennett had opened the home first with a solo home run to left, but the Warriors were limited to just three baserunners of their own over the next four innings.</p>
<p>But Whiteland responded to Mooresville’s marker with its two best innings of the game. A Brady Reed double opened the Warrior fifth and two errors led to two runs that gave Whiteland a 3-1 lead.</p>
<p>Mooresville (12-6, 6-3) put two on in the top of the sixth but failed to score. Whiteland then added two more runs in the bottom half when Sam Pohl’s blooper fell into short right field for the final margin.</p>
<p>“That’s the game — try to take advantage of mistakes and try not to make any mistakes,” Sherry said. “We were on the good end of that tonight.”</p>
<p>Helton (4-2) scattered five hits over seven innings while walking three to pick up his fourth win of the season. Bennett went 2 for 2 while Nick Carrizales was 2 for 3 with a double to lead Whiteland’s offense.</p>
