MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Greg Eddy was in enough jams on Saturday afternoon to land a sponsorship with Smuckers.
But the Post 2 southpaw weaved his way out of those sticky situations with relative ease, and received plenty of assistance from his offense as Morgantown rolled to a 7-3 win over Frederick (Maryland) Post 11 in the first game of a doubleheader at Mylan Park.
“It’s a work in progress,” said Post 2 coach Andy Altemus. “We want (Eddy) to be one of our guys. There’s a lot of confidence (in him). I like how I made a couple mound visits and the infielders were like ‘Throw strikes and we’ll back you up.’
“It’s pretty easy when you’ve got guys wanting to play for you.”
Frederick had plenty of opportunities to make the game far more interesting than the scoreboard indicated.
In the second inning, Post 11 loaded the bases with no outs thanks to two walks and a single. But it didn’t scratch across any runs as Eddy induced a pop up to the catcher followed by back-to-back strikeouts.
It was the opposite scenario in the fourth.
Eddy appeared on his way to a 1-2-3 inning after sending down the first two batters in order, but soon enough found himself in another bases-loaded situation.
This time he walked in a run to bring the tying run to the plate, but that was all the damage Frederick could manage as Eddy got cleanup hitter Erik Thomas to ground out to second base.
Eddy was the definition of wildly effective, finishing with six strikeouts, seven walks, four hits and one run allowed in 5 innings.
Morgantown’s offense rolled, scoring in each of the first 4 innings. Post 2 scored 7 runs despite only having one extra-base hit, a Jacob Kennel RBI double in the second. Kennel led the way from the leadoff spot, finishing 3-for-4 and scoring a pair of runs.
“We’re never going to hit the ball like we did two years ago,” Altemus said. “We’re too young. We don’t have power guys. So as long as we’re getting bunts down, taking bases, throwing strikes, we’re going to be fine.”
Zach Brennan closed out the final two innings for Post 2, pounding the strike zone and working around a two-run Scott Wilson homer in the sixth.
“I’m never going to get mad at that,” Altemus said. “I want them to have to earn it.”
Aaron Forbes drove a pair of runs home for Post 2. Tony Marsh and Avante Neal also drove in runs.
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