MORGANTOWN – Eight days ago the Morgantown High School baseball team rolled to a 10-0 win over cross-town rival University.
Apparently, a lot can happen in a week, and on Wednesday a lot happened in one inning for the Mohigans.
MHS used a four-run seventh inning to pick up a 7-5 come-from-behind victory over the Hawks.
“We had two hits going into the seventh inning,” MHS head coach Pat Sherald said. “I told the guys if we could just pass the baton down the lineup and get a lead we were going to hand the ball off to (Ryan) Fluharty and get the win.”
That’s exactly what happened as Sherald’s pre-inning speech came to fruition.
Trailing 5-3, No. 9 hitter Lance Whanger led off the top of the seventh inning with a double to center field. That was the first hit for the Mohigans (5-0) since the fourth inning.
“I didn’t think it was going to go as far as it did,” Whanger said of the ball that rattled off the fence. “I thought it was a flyout at first.”
That double was just the catalyst that MHS needed as freshman Koa Silvers hit an RBI single to score Whanger and then Silvers later scored to tie the game at 5-5 when Drew Bailey hit a sacrifice fly to left field.
Morgantown grabbed the lead for good when Caleb Cottle hit a single to center field that scored Aaron Jamison and then Caleb Nutter added an RBI single for an insurance run.
“Caleb really stepped up there,” Sherald said. “He’s an all-around player for us. He can give us innings on the mound, he plays first base and he’s just a real competitor for us.”
Fluharty pitched the final inning on the mound to pick up the save while Nate Wolfe was the winning pitcher.
Wednesday’s game was tied at 1-1 through three innings when the Mohigans grabbed a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning as Caleb Neer hit a two-run single.
University answered back in the fifth inning as Jake Croston and Gabe Jansen slugged back-to-back RBI doubles to tie the game at 3-3.
The Hawks (3-2) took a 5-3 lead in a big sixth inning as they scored two runs when Gabe Templeton hit an RBI single and Noah Braham added an RBI sacrifice fly.
But, in the end, UHS was unable to pick up its first win over Morgantown since 2018.
“We competed really hard,” UHS head coach Brad Comport said. “We just have to find a way to close it out. We are disappointed at how the game ended, but overall, I am really, really proud of our guys and the energy they brought.”
Logan Vance started for the Hawks and pitched four and two-thirds innings as he struck out six and allowed just two hits. Zach Harman took the loss on the mound despite striking out three in two and one-third innings of work.
Comport said he was happy with how his team responded after the rough loss over a week ago to the Mohigans. UHS left 12 runners on base and walked eight MHS batters.
“Our mentality was different today. We played with a lot more confidence and we believed in ourselves a lot more,” Comport said. “We just have to do a better job of eliminating the self-inflicted wounds. Those come back to hurt us at the end of the day.”
Neer led the MHS offense with two hits and two RBI while Whanger had the double. Silvers, Cottle and Nutter each had RBI singles.
Templeton and Jett Walters each finished with two hits for UHS with Jansen and Croston each recording a double.
By ERIC HERTER
MHS 100 200 4 – 7 6 2
UHS 010 022 0 – 5 9 1
MHS – Mazey 1 1 0 0, Silvers 2 0 1 1, Galusky 1 1 0 0, Jamison 2 1 0 0, Fluharty 1 2 0 0, Bailey 2 1 0 1, Cottle 3 0 1 1, Anderson 1 0 0 0, Nutter 3 0 1 1, Neer 2 0 2 2, McDonald 1 0 0 0, Whanger 4 1 1 0. Totals: 23 7 6 6.
UHS – Campbell 3 1 0 0, Templeton 4 1 2 1, Braham 3 0 1 1, Croston 4 2 1 1, Jansen 2 0 1 1, Latocha 3 0 0 0, Walter 3 0 2 0, Croyle 3 0 1 0, Edwards 1 0 0 0, Smolkin 1 1 1 0. Totals: 27 5 9 4.
WP: Wolfe
LP: Harman
S: Fluharty
2B – MHS: Whanger. UHS: Croston, Jansen.
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