MORGANTOWN – For six straight innings, Morgantown High pitcher Reed Bailey held Bridgeport to no runs. The Indians made up for that in the seventh and final inning Monday.
The Indians rallied from a 1-0 deficit with five runs in the seventh to pull off a 5-1 victory against the Mohigans.
Neither side tallied a run until the bottom of the fourth inning when MHS third baseman Caleb Cottle singled to center, scoring Ryan Fluharty. It would be the only run scored for the Mohigans. Bailey and Bridgeport pitcher Chris Harbert found themselves in a duel most of the night. Both battled out of multiple jams, denying the other team of scoring opportunities.
Then came the seventh inning.
After a lead-off walk to begin the inning, Bridgeport shortstop Cam Cole doubled on a hard line drive to left field, tying the game for the Indians. Another walked batter would prove to be Bailey’s final of the game, giving way to Dylan Travinski. Bailey threw 107 pitches over six innings and struck out nine.
“Harbert and Bailey really battled tonight,” MHS head coach Pat Sherald said. “Reed really competed and challenged their hitters. We need to refocus and have a short memory and come out playing hard (Tuesday).”
Travinski intentionally walked Harbert to load the bases with the game still tied. Zach Rohrig then hit a sacrifice fly, scoring the runner from third and giving the Indians the lead.
Now trailing, Travinski threw the next two pitches right down the middle for quick 0-2 count against BHS catcher Phil Reed. The next pitch however, was sent by Reed high into the air and over the left field fence, scoring three runs and giving the Indians a 5-1 lead in the blink of an eye. The score would not change and BHS took game one of the class AAA region 1 championship.
Game 2 of the best-of-three series is 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Bridgeport.
“They really got offensive production from the bottom half of their lineup and got some big hits,” Sherald said of Bridgeport’s batting. “Offensively, we need to find more ways to put up runs when we have scoring opportunities.”
Morgantown (20-9)
Kennell 3 0 1 0 Mazey 4 0 0 0 Jamison 3 0 0 0 Fluharty 3 1 2 0 Cottle 2 0 1 1 Poach 3 0 0 0 Galusky 2 0 0 0 Nutter 3 0 0 0 Colasante 3 0 1 0
Bridgeport (33-5)
Paulsen 3 1 0 0 Cole 3 1 2 1 McDougal 2 1 0 0 Dixon 3 0 0 0 Harbert 3 0 0 0 Rohrig 3 0 2 1 Reed 4 1 2 3 Bailey 3 0 2 0 Mann 2 0 0 0
WP: Harbert 6.0 IP, 4 h, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 Ks
LP: Bailey 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 9 Ks
