MORGANTOWN – The Morgantown Post 2 baseball team has been firing on all cylinders recently and continued that trend on Tuesday evening against visiting Clarksburg Post 13 with a 12-run, 15-hit effort in a 12-7 victory at Dale Miller Field.
Post 2 (12-5) has now produced 50 hits in its last four games, including double-digit numbers in three of those games.
Every batter that came to the plate on Tuesday evening had at least one hit for Morgantown, and all but two had at least one RBI.
“Credit to Clarksburg. They’re a scrappy team that had won five in a row coming into tonight and is a tough out every time,” Post 2 head coach Andy Altemus said. “No league game is easy, and if you aren’t ready to come out and play, you can get beat, and we were ready to go tonight.”
Clarksburg broke the ice at the top of the first to take an early 1-0 lead, but the Morgantown bats got started early and often, producing five runs in the bottom half of the opening inning to extend an early lead.
Tommy Montague drove in two of his four RBIs with a hard single to center field, scoring the first two runs for Post 2. Max Cash did the same three batters later, followed by Gabe Templeton, who earned his first of his three hits on the evening to bring home the fifth run of the inning.
After a scoreless second inning, the Post 13 offense began to chip away, eventually tying the game at five with two outs in the top of the third on a single by Preston Heslep to right field.
Of the three base hits in the third inning for Clarksburg, two went for extra bases. Combined with two walks and a hit batter, the visitors saw themselves level after falling behind 5-1.
Post 2 made a pitching change, bringing Brady McNew on in relief of starter Mason Chaney to begin the fourth inning. McNew threw four innings and gave up just two runs on five hits.
“Brady came on in a tight spot over the weekend in North Carolina, and his confidence is really showing,” Altemus said. “He knows all he needs to do is pound the strike zone and let his defense behind him make some plays, and he realizes that.”
Post 2 rewarded McNew for the effort in the bottom half of the fourth when Templeton singled and stole second, making way for Gunner Riley to rifle an RBI double into right field that scored Templeton and gave Post 2 the lead once again 6-5.
After Wenkai Campbell drew a walk, Montague stepped to the plate and sent the second pitch he saw into left field, plating both Campbell and Riley and opening an 8-5 lead.
Two more runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings sealed the deal for Morgantown against Post 13.
Through 17 games this summer, Altemus says his team hasn’t learned anything about themselves that they didn’t already know or expect.
“We are who we thought we were,” he said. “We’ve let a few games get away from us, but the record isn’t everything. Working toward playing the best baseball possible toward the end of the summer is what we are aiming for.”
Post 2 will travel to Bridgeport tomorrow evening for a 7:00 p.m. game against Post 68 at Bridgeport High School.
BOX SCORE
Morgantown 12, Clarksburg 7
CLRK 104 000 2 – 7 9 0
MGTN 500 322 X – 12 15 2
Clarksburg Post 13 – Sutton 3230 Eddy 3100 Sutton 4222 Aloi 3101 Heslep 3011 Bombardiere 3001 Gain 4010 Sears 4120 McBrayer 3000
2B: Ca Sutton, Co Sutton
3B: Sears
Morgantown Post 2 – Riley 4112 Campbell 3211 Thomas 4110 Montague 4134 Walters 3211 Travinski 4120 Cottle 3211 Cash 4012 Templeton 3231
2B: Cottle, Travinski, Riley, Montague
3B: Campbell
WP: McNew 4.0ip 5h 2r 1bb 3K
LP: eddy 3.1ip 10h 8r 2bb 2K
