MORGANTOWN – Being the new kid at a school can be intimidating.
Being the new kid thrown onto the mound on the wrong end of a 6-0 game, can be down-right scary.
University High School’s Kyle Wyatt, a senior transfer from Elkins High School, learned all about that situation on Thursday afternoon. With the Hawks (0-1) trailing against visiting John Marshall (1-1), first-year head coach Brad Comport called on Wyatt in relief.
“Kyle came in and did a really good job,” Comport said. “He got us out of some tough situations. He battled and kept the score very close to where it was and did a good job of giving us a chance. I was very proud of his effort.”
Wyatt finished with four innings pitched as he surrendered three unearned runs and scattered five hits. He did not walk a batter and recorded one strike out.
“I was nervous,” Wyatt admitted. “I didn’t know my spot coming in tonight. It was really up in the air, and we didn’t know who was going to start. To get that relieving spot, I was really proud of that.”
Unfortunately for UHS, that was just about the lone bright spot as they fell behind early to the Monarchs.
Ethan Neely got things started with a three-run home run in the first inning and then John Marshall tacked on two more runs in the third inning and another two runs in the fourth inning. The Monarchs pushed their lead to 10-0 in the fifth inning before the Hawks were able to score their only run.
“It’s tough to get behind early, especially with one swing of the bat and we are down 3-0 in the first inning,” Comport said. “That makes things difficult. They hit the baseball hard against us, and we a tough time executing pitches. Hats off to them, they had a really good offensive display.”
John Marshall collected 15 hits in the contest including the home run by Neely along with doubles by Dillion Wright and Luke Cramer.
Coming into tonight’s opener, Comport said he was optimistic about UHS’s offensive potential. However, on this night that potential was stymied.
“I thought our approach was going to be a little bit better,” Comport said. “I thought we might string some hits together and be able to put some pressure on them. Their pitcher did a great job of keeping us off balance — especially with the breaking ball with two strikes.”
Jake Korngiver started on the mound for JM and he went 5.1 innings with 12 strikeouts and surrendered just two hits. Wright pitched the final 1.2 innings and he struck out two.
UHS scored its lone run, to avoid the dreaded 10-run rule, in the fifth inning when Jackson Oleska reached on an error. He advanced to second on a single by Wenkai Campbell and then scored when Cody Thomas reached on an error.
Senior Aaron Forbes collected the only other hit in the contest for the Hawks, a high pop-fly double behind second base. Gabe Jansen started on the mound for the Hawks, and he threw three innings with three strikeouts and two walks.
“We need to find a way to put the ball in play,” Comport said. “We didn’t do that enough, especially with two strikes. That’s the goal — to make the defense make plays and beat you.”
University will try to pick up its first win of the season today when it hosts Buckhannon-Upshur, 5 p.m. on Shilling Field at Mylan Park.
John Marshall (1-1)
Kerns 5 2 2 1, Coffield 5 0 2 1, Wright 5 2 2 0, Neely 4 2 2 3, Cramer 4 1 2 0, Beckett 4 0 1 1, Neiswanger 3 1 3 0, Rider 3 0 1 0, Bra. Sobutka 2 0 0 0, Black 1 1 0 0. Totals: 36 10 15 6.
University (0-1)
Campbell 3 0 1 0, Thomas 4 0 0 0, Forbes 3 0 1 0, Braham 3 0 0 0, Croston 2 0 0 0, Templeton 3 0 0 0, Croyle 2 0 0 0, Latocha 3 0 0 0, Oleska 3 1 0 0. Totals: 26 1 2 0.
JMHS 3 0 2 2 3 0 0 – 10 15 3
UHS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 1 2 1
2B – JM: Wright, Cramer. UHS: Forbes
HR – JM: Neely
WP: Korngiver 5.1 ip, 2h, 1r, 0er, 3bb, 12k
LP: Jansen 3.0 ip, 10h, 7r, 7er, 2bb, 3k
