GRANVILLE — After playing nearly six hours of baseball, the Morgantown Mohigans needed just one final out to wrap up their second win of the day at the inaugural Mohigan Classic Saturday at Mon County Ballpark.
After defeating Uniontown (Pa.) 12-9 in a three-hour slog the game prior, the Mohigans led Wheeling Park 8-6 with two outs in the seventh, but the Patriots had the bases loaded with the tying run at second base.
MHS coach Pat Sherald called on senior Ryan Fluharty to move from shortstop to the mound to get the final out they needed to win the game.
“Ryan’s kind of filled that closer role and that is the kind of situation we go to him,” Sherald said. “He’s a senior and that’s what he wants, that’s when he wants the ball.”
Fluharty, who had played every inning of the two games at shortstop, got Wheeling Park’s Nate Simon to hit a harmless ground ball that was fielded by MHS second baseman Koa Silvers, who stepped on second base for the win.
“He obviously did a great job for us and shut the door,” Sherald said of Fluharty. “I’m real proud of him.”
Morgantown moved to 7-0 on the season with the win while Park fell to 4-2.
There were four games played at Mon County Ballpark Saturday as part of the first annual Mohigan Classic. The Classic was scheduled to start Friday afternoon, but every game Friday was canceled due to weather. It seemed as though Mother Nature would strike again as the wind and rain picked up throughout Morgantown’s first game against Uniontown, but the teams were able to play through it.
That game, which MHS won 12-9, was the third game of the day and the first when the weather really started to play an effect.
The seven-inning slog featured 21 total runs, seven combined errors, 15 walks, two hit batters and two balks.
“I think I need to tip every fan that stayed around for that game because that was a three-hour game in less-than-ideal conditions,” Sherald said. “Probably not the cleanest game for fans to watch, but I told them they just have to find a way to win the game and that’s what they did.”
Drew Bailey and Aaron Jamison, who will play home games at Mon County Ballpark as a member of the Mountaineers next year, led MHS in the first game, collecting two hits and scoring three runs apiece. Bailey also drove in two runs. Tristan Milik came on in relief in the top of the seven and struck out two for the one-inning save.
The nightcap was much better played, as Morgantown and Wheeling Park both received excellent outings from their starters.
Morgantown’s Caleb Cottle, who played first base in game one, allowed two runs in five innings while striking out seven and scattering four hits.
“His breaking ball seemed to be a plus-pitch for him today,” Sherald said. “He just really competed for us every pitch. Those are the type of outings we’re going to have to get out of Caleb if we’re going to go deep into the season.”
Park’s Luke Doyle nearly matched him, as the southpaw had held MHS scoreless through the first three innings. But in the fourth, the heart of the Morgantown order strung together four-straight run-scoring hits to take a 4-1 lead. A Bailey double, Cottle single, Riley Anderson triple and Caleb Nutter bunt hit did all the damage.
Bailey drove in another run in the fifth to put MHS up 5-2 at the time. Ty Galusky hit a bases-loaded single up the right field line and Jamison had a run-scoring groundout to bump the lead up to 8-3 after six innings.
“We’re fortunate right now that one through nine we have somebody who can step in there and hit,” Sherald said.
The Patriots never quit, however, and scored three runs off of reliever Caleb Neer before Fluharty took the mound and got the game-sealing final out.
University defeated Parkersburg South 7-1 in the first game of the day at 10 a.m. in a contest that featured all sun and no rain.
A 1-1 tie was broken by Gabe Templeton’s run-scoring triple in the fifth inning. Noah Braham then singled him home as UHS built a 5-1 lead by the end of the frame. Then in the sixth, Braham sent one out of Mon County Ballpark, hitting a ball in the left field bullpen for a home run. He finished with two hits, two RBI and two runs scored.
Gabe Jansen got the win with five innings of one-run ball and five strikeouts.
Wheeling Park defeated Parkersburg South 5-4 in the second game of the day thanks to a bases-loaded walk-off single by Braydon Kupsky in the bottom of the seventh inning.
“Really I was so happy to be able to get University, Parkersburg South, Wheeling Park and Uniontown out here,” Sherald said. “Everybody’s just been so appreciative about having the opportunity to come out here.”
MHS honored its 1970 baseball team between the second and third games Saturday.
“(Saturday) we were able to honor our 1970 team, who actually started the program,” Sherald said. “The program was not being played for over 10 years and they started it up.”
Sherald hopes to make the Mohigan Classic a yearly affair in Granville.
“Hopefully this is something we can do every year,” he said. “WVU was so gracious and all the high school kids had the chance to tour the facilities.”
Morgantown 8, Wheeling Park 6
WP 000 111 3 — 6 7 0
MHS 000 413 x — 8 11 4
WP: Marsh 2 1 0 0; Bittinger 4 0 2 0; Kupsky 4 1 0 1; DeGenova 3 1 1 0; Conrad 4 0 1 1; Simons 3 1 1 0; Jameison 3 0 0 0; Simon 4 0 1 0; Nordoni 2 2 1 0. Totals 29 6 7 2.
MHS: Fluharty 3 1 1 0; Galusky 4 2 4 2; Jamison 3 0 0 1; Bailey 3 1 2 2; Cottle 2 1 1 1; Anderson 3 1 1 1; Nutter 3 0 1 1; Whanger 2 1 0 0; Silvers 2 1 1 0. Totals 25 8 11 8.
2B: MHS (Bailey 2, Galusky).
3B: MHS (Fluharty, Anderson).
WP: Cottle 5ip, 2r, 4h, 7k, 2bb
LP: Doyle 4.1ip, 5r, 9h, 2k, 0bb
SV: Fluharty .1ip 0r, 0h, 0k, 0bb
Morgantown 12, Uniontown 9
UT 110 403 0 — 9 9 5
MHS 304 212 x — 12 8 2
Uniontown: Thomas 4 1 2 2; Musko 3 1 2 0; Grego 3 0 1 3; Nehls 4 0 0 0; Kuhn 2 1 0 0; White 4 1 0 0; Dean 1 0 0 0; Uphold 2 1 1 0; Jackson 4 2 1 0; Hawk 2 2 2 3. Totals 29 9 9 8.
MHS: Mazey 1 1 0 0; Galusky 2 0 0 0; Silvers 0 0 0 1; Jamison 2 3 2 0; Fluharty 2 3 2 2; Bailey 4 1 1 0; Cottle 4 2 1 1; Anderson 3 0 0 0; Nutter 3 1 2 1; Whanger 3 1 0 0. Totals 28 12 8 5.
2B: UT (Uphold, Hawk). MHS (Jamison, Nutter).
3B: UT (Musko).
WP: Montague 3.1ip, 5r, 3h, 1k, 2bb.
LP: Musko 2ip, 3r, 1h, 0k, 5bb.
SV: Milik 1ip, 0r, 1h, 2k, 0bb.
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