MORGANTOWN — According to Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver, “The key to winning baseball games is pitching, fundamentals, and three-run homers.”
Wednesday night on sunny Dale Miller Field at Mylan Park in the Region 1 Section 1 tournament, Morgantown and Wheeling Park faced off and another tight game between the two seemed likely.
But as the sage Earl of Baltimore explained, the long ball can have a way of changing the complexion of a game in a hurry, and it was a pair of three-run homers by MHS in the first two innings that erased an early WP advantage, leading to a 13-3, six-inning Morgantown victory.
The Patriots (19-7, 1-1) executed small ball to perfection in the top of the first, as a pair of bunts and an infield single loaded the bases, but Morgantown right-hander Dylan Travinsky minimized the damage, surrendering a Gian DeGenova sac fly and an RBI groundout to escape with just two runs across.
Morgantown skipper Pat Sherald thought his junior starter’s calm, mature response in the first inning was a big key in his team’s big win.
“Bases loaded, nobody out in the first,” he said, “and all you want to do there is limit the damage, and that’s just what Dylan did. He stayed poised, did his job, and he was just a bulldog for us. 74 pitches, 50 for strikes, and no walks – that’s just an excellent performance in the post-season.”
The Mohigans (21-6, 2-0) responded immediately when Drew Bailey slammed a three-run bomb to left to give MHS a 3-2 lead after one.
After retiring the last three Patriot batters in the first, Travinsky continued to mow down the Park hitters with efficiency, retiring the side in order from the second inning through the fifth, and the MHS bats steadily added on as well. The Mohigans scored four in the second, the big blow an opposite-field three-run homer from Ryan Fluharty, and a single run in the fourth on Eli Boggs’ two-out RBI single.
“We’ve been struggling with the bats lately,” Sherald admitted, “but we concentrated at practice on our two-strike approach, being shorter to the ball and trying not to pull everything. That work paid off all night. We kept things simple, went out and won innings, and it added up to a good effort for us, and it’s always good in a double elimination tournament to get the first two under your belt.”
Up 8-2 in the fifth, Morgantown blew the game wide open when a balk forced home a run, then Caleb Nutter stroked a two-run home run to right.
Travinsky’s 15 consecutive outs streak ended in the sixth, and Park scored a run on DeGenova’s RBI single, but MHS walked this one off in the bottom of the sixth on Weston Mazey’s two-out RBI single and an error.
After the game, upbeat Wheeling Park manager Steve Myers didn’t seem too concerned over the outcome.
“That certainly wasn’t our best effort,” he smiled, “but that happens in baseball sometimes. We got off to a nice start offensively, but they played long ball on us, and we weren’t able to do much against Travinsky. But our season’s not done, and we’ve got more baseball to play. Sometimes a bad loss is easier to get out of your system, and our plan is to see them again on Friday.”
The Patriots host Brooke Thursday at 5:00 p.m. in an elimination game. The winner will face the Mohigans in the Sectional title game on Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Mylan Park.
BY MARK SCHRAF
Morgantown 13, Wheeling Park 3, 6 innings
Wheeling Park 200 001 – 3
Morgantown 340 132 – 13
WHEELING PARK (19-7, 1-1) — Marsh 3 2 2 0; Bittinger 3 1 1 0; Kupsky 3 0 1 0; DeGenova 2 0 1 2; Conrad 3 0 0 1; Simons 2 0 0 0; Jamison 2 0 0 0; Simon 2 0 0 0; Nardone 2 0 0 0; Myers 0 0 0 0. Totals 22 3 5 3.
MORGANTOWN (21-6, 2-0) — Mazey 4 2 3 1; Galusky 2 2 2 0; Fluharty 2 3 1 3; Nutter 3 2 1 2; Bailey 4 1 1 3; Cottle 3 1 2 0; Neer 3 0 1 0; Boggs 3 1 1 1; Dorkins 2 1 1 0. Totals 26 13 13 10.
2B – MHS 1 (Cottle).
HR – MHS 3 (Bailey, Fluharty, Nutter).
WP – Travinsky 6 ip 3 r 3 er 5 h 0 bb 5 so.
LP – Jamison 1.1 ip 6 r 6 er 6 h 2 bb 1 so.
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