GRANVILLE — On a chilly Sunday afternoon, the West Virginia Black Bears ended their series against the Williamsport Crosscutters in a 4-2 loss at Monongalia County Ballpark.
Despite loading the bases twice, West Virginia’s offense failed to capitalize on either opportunity and finished the game with only three hits. The loss gave the Crosscutters the series win after finishing Saturday night’s contest in a tie (8-8).
Both teams faced a slow start in the 1st inning as their respective pitchers closed out the top of the order. Bats began heating up in the second when a hit and a dropped throw led to a score for the Crosscutters. The Black Bears offense responded in the bottom of inning when a single by shortstop Jeron Williams brought home first baseman Christian Lucio.
With two outs and two men on base, Williamsport walked centerfielder Jason Thomas, providing the Black Bears an opportunity to score again with the bases loaded. However, a caught pop-fly ended the inning and the Black Bears’ chances of taking the lead.
A similar opportunity presented itself in the 4th inning, when the Crosscutters loaded the bases after another series of walks. But a caught pop-fly off the bat of Thomas ended the potential scoring run.
Williamsport was the first to break out of the low-scoring slump with another run in the 5th inning off a double to left field. In the bottom of the 6th, Williams answered with a double of his own to bring home second baseman Jake Reinhardt, knotting the game at 2-2.
But Williamsport broke open the West Virginia defense in the top of the 7th and scored two more runs to give them the 4-2 lead. The doubles from Reinhardt and Williams in the 6th inning were the last two of three hits on the evening from the Black Bears. The Crosscutters ended the night with four runs on nine hits.
Black Bears starting pitcher John Czeslawski managed to hold the Crosscutters offense to one run in the first three innings in his season debut. The Illinois native recorded only two hits with two strikeouts in his first outing for West Virginia.
After five games played, the Black Bears fall to 0-3-2 in the MLB Draft League. West Virginia will play a two-game series against Mahoning Valley on Monday and Tuesday at Mon County Ballpark before going on the road to take on the Trenton Thunder. First pitch for both home games is 6:35 p.m.
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