In a doubleheader rematch of last year’s Class A Region II Championship series, East Hardy won the first game 1-nil against the Bulldogs as Brett Tharp pitched 11 strikeouts in a complete game shutout and hit the winning home run before losing the nightcap 18-7 on Thursday.
“I was glad to finally see us get a win tonight,” East Hardy Coach Eric Heflin remarked.
“They knew what they had to do and that’s exactly what they did. I’m very proud to see Brett [Tharp] finish a game as a pitcher and have 11 strikeouts. His home run gave us the momentum we needed to finish the game strong.”
East Hardy senior pitcher Brett Tharp started the contest hurling strikeouts to Tygarts Valley’s Chuckie New and Austin Lanham before Brett Smith grounded out.
Smith took the mound for the Bulldogs and was equally effective with ten strikeouts on the day and allowed only two hits.
East Hardy leadoff batter junior Logan Whetzel hit a hard grounder to first baseman Austin Simmons, who bobbled the ball and recovered just in time with a throw to Smith dashing over to cover first base.
Cougars freshman batter Andrew Tharp was tagged out on a dropped third strike for the second out.
Older brother Brett Tharp connected on a full-count pitch by Smith resulting in a double in center field, then stole second base on a passed ball before being stranded on a pop-out hit by senior Clay Skovron.
In the top of the second inning, Tygarts Valley’s Hunter Lanham knocked the ball into the air for what looked to be a blooper except Cougars center fielder Clay Skovron made sliding save for the out.
Whetzel tracked down a pop fly in shallow right field off the bat of Logan George, then Brett Tharp retired the side with a strikeout to Jake Tackett.
Smith responded with three consecutive strikeouts pitched to East Hardy sophomores Hinton Shifflett and Noah Miller plus freshman Alex Miller.
Tharp issued a full-count walk to Simmons to begin the third inning, who stole second base before Willie Walden was thrown out at first base on a dropped third strike.
Tygarts Valley’s Daniel White hit a fly ball into left center field where it was caught on the run by Skovron, then New struck out looking.
East Hardy sophomore Seth Smith flew out to Bulldogs right fielder Austin Lanham in the bottom of the third inning.
Cougars sophomore designated hitter Austin Alt struck out and Whetzel was out at first base on a dropped third strike to end the frame.
In the top of the fourth inning, Tygarts Valley’s Austin Lanham grounded out to Whetzel, then Tharp sandwiched two strikeouts around a walk to Hunter Lanham.
After a strikeout to Andrew Tharp, Smith had a 2-2 count on Brett Tharp moments before he smashed a solo home run over the black monster in center field for the 1-0 East Hardy advantage.
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Smith tossed strikeouts to Skovron and Shifflett to get out of the inning.
Brett Tharp recorded his eighth strikeout of the game against Bulldogs batter Jake Tackett to comments the fifth inning.
Simmons launched the ball to the left center field fence, but Skovron zipped up the hill to collect it and fired to second base for Whetzel to make the tag for the out denying a chance at a double.
East Hardy catcher Alex Miller fielded a grounder by Walden and threw to Shifflett for the out.
Brett Smith grabbed a slow grounder in front of the mound off the bat of Noah Miller and made the play for an out.
Alex Miller drew a walk for the Cougars, but was stranded on base despite a steal on two groundouts hit by Seth Smith an Alt.
White smacked a leadoff single into right field for the Bulldogs in the sixth inning.
A pop-up was nearly caught on a diving play by Brett Tharp, but the ball was jarred out during the roll in front of the Tygarts Valley dugout.
Tharp struck out New, then Alex Miller caught White stealing second base with the tag by Smith as the hand slid off the base going past it.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Whetzel grounded out to Brett Smith and Andrew Tharp struck out.
An intentional walk was given to Brett Tharp and second base was swiped on a wild pitch, then the Cougars were retired as Skovron grounded out.
Tygarts Valley’s Brett Smith hit a line drive to Whetzel at second base to begin the seventh inning.
Shifflett snatched the second out for East Hardy along the fence beyond the dugout off the bat of Hunter Lanham.
Tharp issued a free pass to Logan George, then ended the game with his 11th strikeout sending Tackett and the Bulldogs to the dugout to regroup for the second contest.
East Hardy (1-3) suffered an 18-7 loss in the nightcap to Tygarts Valley (2-3).
The Cougars had the Easter Weekend to refocus and prepare for Tuesday’s doubleheader at Berkeley Springs.
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