It’s always refreshing to hear during a baseball game — instead of PING — that classic CRACK of ball on wooden bat. Friday afternoon, American Legion Morgantown Post 2 hosted in-state rival Parkersburg Post 15 to kick off this weekend’s WAJR Wood Bat Classic in an early-season match-up at Mylan Park’s Dale Miller Field.
However, a few too few CRACKS and a few too many free passes and extra outs from Post 2 resulted in a 10-3 defeat.
Post 2 starter Max Perow surrendered just a lone infield single, but struggled early with his control, walking four batters in each of the first two innings and ten in total, and a pair of errors allowed Parkersburg (4-0) to forge a 5-0 lead with minimal effort. Post 2 (1-1) finally broke through against Parkersburg starter Andrew Manley in the third with three singles and a walk that eventually plated Tommy Montague and Park Croyle. Morgantown reliever Jett Walters shut down the Post 15 offense in the fourth, and Post 2 crept closer with a single run on an infield error to make it 5-3.
Parkersburg regained their 3-run bulge in the fifth when Carter King stole second and third, then trotted home on a wild pitch — their sixth run on just two hits. Post 2 squandered two hits in the next two innings, and then Parkersburg posted a decisive four-spot in the seventh on a based-loaded single from Drew Woofter and a two-out single from Evan Swain to ice it.
After the game, Morgantown manager Andy Altemus discussed Post 2’s history in the Wood Bat Classic as well as his pitchers’ performances.
“You know, from a win-loss perspective, we’ve rarely done very well in this thing, and it’s often because we’re trying things out early in the season,” he explained. “We left Max out there to give him a chance to work through and find some consistency. His stuff is first-rate — he just needs to get it around the plate.
“And what Jett did for us is exactly what we wanted,” he continued. “He competed, pounded the zone, threw to contact, kept us in it, and ate a lot of innings. I couldn’t be prouder of him.”
When asked what was working for him, the young righty gave a smile and a response that matched his manager’s.
“I just wanted to throw strikes,” Walters said. “That’s what Andy told me when I was warming up. These guys can play great defense behind me, so I tried to make them earn everything they got and give us a chance. And it worked pretty well until the last inning, when I was pretty exhausted. It’s been a long time since I’ve thrown that many pitches in a game. My arm feels good — I just kind of ran out of gas a little.”
Post 2 is missing several key players this weekend, including veteran Aaron Forbes and some talented additions from Fairmont, which did not field a team this season, but not surprisingly, Altemus will never let his team use that — or anything else — as an excuse.
“We aren’t interested in excuses,” he smiled. “We need to move on, fix the mistake, and not repeat it. I thought we could’ve competed a little better at the plate in support of Jett’s great work, and some of that comes down to accountability. The coaching staff will let them know, but I’d like to see the players begin to hold each other accountable as well, because I think it means even more coming from their peers.
“I like this group a lot,” he concluded, “and we have a chance to be pretty good, if we all are rowing in the same direction and doing everything we can to get better every game. Looking forward to seeing where we go this summer.”
Post 2 played Berkeley Post 15 Friday, and hosts Potomac Valley Post 64 tonight at Mylan Park, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
BY MARK SCHRAF
Parkersburg Post 15 131 010 4 – 10
Morgantown Post 2 002 100 0 – 3
PARKERSBURG POST 15 (4-0)
Nic Menarchek ss 5 1 1 0 Brett Haskins 3b 2 3 0 0 Drew Woofter rf 3 2 1 2 Eli Reeves dh 3 0 0 0 Izek Baldwin c 3 0 2 1 Brodie Wiggins lf 3 0 1 1 Evan Swain 1b 5 0 1 1 Cade Goode 2b 4 1 1 0 Carter King cf 1 3 1 0 Andrew Manley p 0 0 0 0 Caden Parker pr 0 0 0 0 Gatlin Donohew p 0 0 0 0 Totals 29 10 8 5.
MORGANTOWN POST 2 (1-1)
Jacob Kennell lf 4 0 2 1 Zach Brennan cf 4 0 0 0 Tony Marsh rf 3 0 1 0 Kaleb Cottle 1b 2 0 1 0 Cody Thomas ss 4 0 0 0 Domenic Colassante 3b 3 0 0 0 Tommy Montague dh 3 1 3 0 Park Croyle c 2 1 1 0 Eli Boggs 2b 2 1 1 0 Max Parow p 0 0 0 0 Jett Walters p 0 0 0 0 Ethan Dorkins pr 0 1 0 0 Brady McNew 1b 2 0 1 0 Totals 27 3 9 1.
E – Parkersburg 1, Morgantown 3. DP – Parkersburg 1. LOB – Parkersburg 13, Morgantown 7. HBP – Parkersburg 1 (King by Walters).
Parkersburg – Manley (W) 6.2 ip 3 r 2 er 9 h 2 bb 6 so, Donohew 0.1 ip 0 r 0 er 1 h 0 bb 0 so.
Morgantown – Parow (L) 2+ ip 5 r 2 er 1 h 10 bb 2 so, Walters 5 ip 5 r 4 er 7 h 2 bb 3 so.
