ELKINS, W.Va. – Morgantown Post 2 (6-1) started their morning on the warpath, downing Beckley Post 32 in a five-inning, 10-run victory in their first game of the day.
Morgantown had no trouble from Beckley until the fifth inning, shutting down their Raleigh County rival while posting nine runs through four innings.
Evan Smith started out strong, allowing just one hit in the top of the first. Morgantown would fail to score in the bottom, even with a walk by Beckley’s starting pitcher Cole Kipps followed by a Caleb Taylor double. A dropped third strike and follow-up fly out would lock Colton Matthews and Taylor at third and second, respectively.
With Beckley failing to score in the second, Morgantown’s bats began cracking for the early 3-0 lead. With two outs against Post 2, Ethan Smith kicked off the scoring drive with a two-run home run out of center field. Quintin Smith’s following single would put him in position for Taylor to single him in. With two on base, Morgantown was in striking position once more, but Beckley found a reprieve with Devon Neal flying out to end the inning.
After a defensive 1-2-3, Morgantown tacked on one more run with a score on pass before Gavin Cottle struck out swinging. Following another quick defensive half, Post 2 put up five more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Taylor’s grounder to third base put in Smith to start the scoring-drive, and Cam Musgrave capped things with a two-run single out to center field.
With a shutout looming, Beckley’s Justin Lovell found a home run on a 1-0 count for the team’s first and only run. Morgantown responded with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, punctuated by Neal’s walk-off ground out to push in Matthews from third.
Taylor (3-4) was the big man at the plate for Morgantown once again, logging three RBI and two doubles. In Friday’s game against Piqua Post 184, Taylor batted 3-for-4 and had two RBI.
Beckley managed to just get three hits off of Smith, who picked up the win on the mound for Morgantown through all five innings. He allowed just one walk and one earned run. Only striking out two, Smith pitched into his tight defense who combined for six ground outs and seven fly outs.
Kipps took the loss for Post 32, pitching for four innings and giving up seven earned runs and five walks on seven hits. He struck out five.
