ASHEBORO, N.C. — The Morgantown Post 2 baseball team jumped out to an early lead against Canal Post 25 (Del.) and held on for a 6-5 victory in extra innings.
The win came in the first round of the Mid-Atlantic regional.
Morgantown jumped out to an early lead, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning.
Post 2 held the lead until the fifth inning when Canal Post 25 evened the score, scoring two runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Canal eventually took the lead in the following inning, scoring two more runs.
With its back against the wall, Morgantown once again found a way to rally in the top half of the last inning — scoring two runs to even the score.
Canal couldn’t do anything in the bottom half of the seventh inning, taking the game to extra innings.
“Delaware is a good team and they battled back,” Morgantown Post 2 manager Tyler Barnette said.
In the eighth inning, Morgantown scored two more runs to take the lead after Quintin Smith’s two-run home run. Canal ended up scoring a run in the bottom half of the inning, but Morgantown managed to get the job done defensively to secure the win.
“That home run really took the wind out of their (Delaware) sails,” Barnette said.
Quintin Smith led the way for Post 2’s offense, finishing the game going 2-for-4 at the plate with a home run and two RBIs. Gavin Cottle finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Casey Smith, Devon Neal and Caleb Taylor each finished with a hit. Casey Smith got the team’s other extra base hit in the contest, notching a double that brought home a run.
Morgantown finished the game with eight combined hits. Canal also collected eight hits in the contest. Chris O’Neill was the only player for Canal that had multiple hits.
Reed Bailey got the start on the mound for Morgantown — allowing four runs off five hits and two walks in four innings pitched, and tallied two strikeouts. Bailey had a no-hitter through four innings.
“Reed did everything we could’ve asked him to do,” Barnette said. “He got tired and we had to take him out.”
Cottle came in relief in the fifth innings — allowing just one run in three innings and striking out four batters. Cottle got the win.
“I think Gavin played his best game all summer,” Barnette said. “I’m really proud of Gavin and everything he did.”
Thomas Tracey started for Canal — allowing two runs in four innings. David Keane relieved him in the fifth inning and allowed two runs in two innings. Pusey relieved him in the seventh inning. Jonathan Hines took the loss for Canal.
Post 2 will advance to play Wilmington (N.C.) at 4:30 p.m. today.
