MORGANTOWN — It’s a rallying cry in baseball, especially at the high school level … one that, if followed, guarantees a victory.
“Let’s win the inning.”
On Tuesday night at Mylan Park, the University baseball team faced Buckhannon-Upshur in the Class AAA Region I, Section 2 semifinal, and while the Hawks didn’t win every inning, they didn’t lose any, either, as they scored late and often to sprint past the Bucs 11-6.
Buckhannon-Upshur (9-10) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the 1st inning off UHS starter Zach Harman on Isaac Lane’s opposite field double, but Harman bent his back to strand Lane at third. University (12-8) responded immediately on Aaron Forbes’ three-run home run to left to take the lead 3-2.
Both pitchers retired the side in order in the 2nd, but the Bucs threatened in the top of the third, loading the bases with one out. But once again, Harman battled back to strike out two straight to preserve the lead. Neither team scored in the fourth, although Harman had to be pulled after 73 pitches, thus preserving his ability to pitch on two-days rest, rather than three.
B-U took advantage of some spotty fielding and a big two-run double by Elijah Arbogast to plate three runs, but a huge 9-9-2-5 double play squelched the rally. On a medium-deep fly ball to right field, Wenkai Campbell’s strong throw home and catcher Park Croyle’s bullet peg to Forbes ended the inning.
The Hawks’ small-ball response in the bottom of the frame was critical to their win, as Campbell reached on an error and stole second, then Avonte Neal walked and raced all the way to second on the wild pitch. Campbell came across on a wild pitch, Neal scored on Noah Braham’s RBI groundout to knot the score at 5-5. But UHS wasn’t done, as Forbes roped a single to left. Followed by Drew Herter’s clutch two-out, two-strike double down the right field line to tie the inning, but take a 6-5 lead.
Hawks reliever Chase Edwards surrendered the lead in the 6th when the Bucs scored a single run on a sacrifice fly, but once UHS got deep into the B-U bullpen in the bottom of the inning, their two-out slugging turned Edwards into a winner. Campbell finally took advantage of B-U’s bunched outfield positioning with a double down the left-field line to score a run, followed by Neal’s triple to right.
After he trotted home on a wild pitch, Braham extended the inning with a single and scored on Forbes’ long fly to center that was dropped for a three-base error. Forbes came in on yet another wild pitch to make it 11-6, then Edwards pitched a scoreless final inning to close it out.
A breathless Buck Riggleman was thrilled with what he described as his Hawks’ “total team win.”
“Everybody contributed,” he said, “and I also loved the way our dugout stayed up and positive and enthusiastic. These are the kinds of ways you have to play to win in the playoffs. Every time they scored, we responded immediately, and I think that was the key to this one.
“Aaron’s shot in the first was huge because instead of chasing the game, we took the lead, and it let everyone relax a little bit. Zach settled in after the first, and pitched out of a big jam. We would’ve liked to have had some better at bats and added on in the middle innings, but the runs we put up late — especially all those clutch two-out hits — allowed us to put it away when we needed to. We executed defensively, Chase pitched well — like I said, a total team win. I’m proud of them.”
The Hawks are back in action Wednesday at Bridgeport, with the first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
Box score
BUCKHANNON-UPSHUR (9-10)
Zach Calef-Boring cf 3 2 2 1 Jay Burnside p-3b 2 1 0 0 Elijah Arbogast ss-p 2 2 1 2 Isaac Lane 3b-p-ss 2 0 1 2 Ian Donnen c 4 0 0 0 Cam Tenney 2b 3 0 0 0 Zach White lf 3 1 1 0 Elijah Bryant dh 2 0 0 0 Parker Browning rf 3 0 1 0 Brady Hurst 1b 0 0 0 0 Totals 24 6 6 5
UNIVERSITY (12-8)Universinte Neal cf 3 2 1 1 Noah Braham 1b 4 2 1 1 Aaron Forbes 3b 4 3 2 3 Drew Herter lf 3 0 1 1 Seth Coombs dh 2 0 0 0 Park Croyle c 3 0 0 0 Jackson Oleska 2b 2 1 0 0 Chase Edwards ss-p 3 0 0 0 Cody Thomas ss 0 0 0 0 Zach Harman p 0 0 0 0 Gabe Jansen p 0 0 0 0 Totals 28 11 7 7.
B-U 200 031 0 – 6
UHS 300 035 x – 11
EXTRA-BASE HITS
2B – BU 2 (Arbogast, Lane) UHS 2(Herter, Campbell). 3B – UHS 1 (Neal). HR – UHS 1 (Forbes).
PITCHING
B-U – Burnside 4.1 ip 6 r 4 er 2 h 2 bb 2 so, Lane (L) 1.1 ip 3 r 3 er 2 h 1 bb 3 so, Arbogast 0.1 ip 2 r 0 er 3 h 0 bb 0 so.
UHS – Harman 3.2 ip 2 r 2 er 3 h 2 bb 7 so, Jansen 0.1 ip 3 r 1 er 1 h 1 bb 0 so, Edwards (W) 3 ip 1 r 1 er 2 h 1 bb 1 so.
Morgantown 9, Brooke 0
Reed Bailey, Caleb Cottle, Ethan Smith and Zach Brennan combined to shutout the Bruins in seven innings to open the Region I, Section 1 tournament. Bailey went the first three innings, while Cottle struck out five of the six outs he recorded.
It didn’t take long for the Mohigans to get going offensively, scoring seven of their nine runs in the first three innings, tacking on their last two in the 5th.
Ryan Fluharty had a big day at the plate, going 3 for 3 and falling a home run short of the cycle, hitting a single, double and triple. He also tied for the team lead with two RBIs with Brennan and Domenic Colasante.
Ty Galusky, Quincy Thornton and Jacob Kennell each had two hits for MHS.
The Mohigans (19-4) will host John Marshall in the winner’s bracket at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
