In a pitcher’s duel it is always tough to find runs and Class A No. 9 Pendleton County managed to squeeze two runs in the fourth inning off a bases loaded situation and limited the Cougars to one lone run in the sixth inning to secure a 2-1 victory in Franklin on Wednesday.
“Clay [Skovron] coming back from the sickness he had and being able to come out here and pitch the way that he did, he pitched a great ballgame,” East Hardy coach Eric Heflin stated.
“That really affects how everybody else plays and it showed. We only had two errors and that’s a big improvement from the beginning of the season.”
Pendleton County pitcher Timothy Thorne issued a pair of walks to Cougars batters Clay Skovron and Brett Tharp with two outs in the first inning before retiring the side with a strikeout to Adam Baker.
East Hardy pitcher Clay Skovron opened the bottom of the first inning with a strikeout to Wildcats leadoff batter Addison Rexrode, who had hit two home runs in the previous meeting in the initial frame.
Thorne hit a fly ball to Cougars right fielder Seth Smith, then Jacob Lambert singled past third baseman Noah Miller.
East Hardy catcher Alex Miller made a pickoff throw to first base as Lambert was caught off guard with the tag made by Adam Baker to end the inning.
“That was a good win, a good baseball team there,” Pendleton County coach Sam Yokum remarked.
“I was real proud of Tim Thorne as a far as a defensive standpoint. This was the first time he has gone past 75 pitches and I was very pleased, because I know East Hardy hits the ball very well. From an offensive standpoint, it was very disappointing. In the fifth inning, [Clay] Skovron was only at 50 pitches. He was very effective against us and it didn’t give us an opportunity to create some good offensive situations.”
In the top of the second inning, East Hardy’s Noah Miller hit a towering shot near the left field foul line and Wildcats shortstop Cameron Kisamore tracked it down.
Andrew Tharp hit what would have been a blooper in shallow left field, but Kisamore chased after it making backhanded catch before crashing to the turf for the second out.
East Hardy’s Austin Alt drew a walk, but was caught stealing second base with a throw by Pendleton County catcher Kole Puffenberger.
Puffenberger jogged to first base prematurely in the count thinking his last at-bat would carry over, but was sent back to the batter’s box and Skovron got the strikeout.
The Wildcats failed to get a runner on base as Thomas Davis grounded out to catcher Alex Miller and Grant Evick flew out to center fielder Christian Dove.
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Smith bunted out to begin the Cougars third inning pursuit for a score.
East Hardy’s Logan Whetzel hit a sharp grounder to the third baseman and it was not collected cleanly for a single.
After a flyout to right fielder Joshua Wagoner by Alex Miller, Skovron singled on a blooper into right field before a walk to Brett Tharp loaded the bases.
Baker hit a deep fly ball to right field where it was caught by Wagoner to deny a run.
Skovron sandwiched strikeouts to Wagoner and Evan Kile around a groundout by Kyle Kimble which was fielded by Whetzel to prevent the Wildcats from reaching the base path again.
The Cougars went down in order in the fourth inning as Noah Miller and Andrew Tharp grounded out, then Austin Alt struck out looking.
Pendleton County took got on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the fourth inning taking a 2-nil edge.
Rexrode was issued a leadoff walk, then Thorne singled to shortstop Brett Tharp.
Lambert bunted and Skovron tried corralling the ball and juggled it a bit before trying a fielder’s choice throw to third base and it wasn’t in time as Pendleton County loaded the bases.
Puffenberger hit a pop-up to Whetzel for the first out, then Davis was hit by a pitch scoring the first run of the game.
Evick hit a sharp grounder which was saved on a dive by Brett Tharp, but his throw from his knees went off the glove of second baseman Logan Whetzel as a Thorne scored to give the Wildcats the 2-0 lead.
Wagoner hit back to Skovron on the mound and the throw home notched the second out and catcher Alex Miller tried to turn a double play at first base, but Wagoner arrived there in time.
A fly ball in shallow right field by Kimble was caught by Whetzel to stop further damage as Skovron’s pitch count hovered around 50 total.
In the fifth inning, Smith launched the ball into shallow right field as three fielders converged and Wagoner lifted his glove for the catch and dropped the ball allowing a base on an error.
Whetzel advanced Smith on a sacrifice bunt, but stranded on a pair of strikeouts from Thorne to Alex Miller and Skovron with both looking at the pitch.
After a flyout by Kile and a strikeout to Rexrode, Thorne singled into left field just past the glove of Noah Miller and was left aboard on a flyout by Lambert as both fly balls were caught by Smith.
The Cougars had a little magic in store in the sixth inning as Brett Tharp doubled on the first pitch with a shot near the left field fence (shy of a home run call by Whetzel).
Baker stepped to the plate and connected on the first pitch for an RBI double launched into right field to cut the deficit to 2-1.
“Brett [Tharp] has been hitting the ball really well this season and that’s why we moved him to fourth in the cleanup spot. He’ll put the ball in play at some point. It may take him one time through, but after that he will dial in and get it. Adam Baker has really come around to hit the ball very well,” Coach Heflin noted.
Noah Miller flew out for the first out, then Andrew Tharp was given a walk as East Hardy had two runners on board.
Thorne countered with a strikeout to Austin Alt, then made a diving save on a grounder by Smith and got up just in time to make the throw to first baseman Thomas Davis for the last out.
For Pendleton County’s turn, Puffenberger reached first base on an error as the ball deflected off the glove of Whetzel and Tharp made the save with a short throw going awry.
Davis flew out to Smith in right field for the first out, then Evick garnered a single into left center field.
Skovron walked Wagoner to load the bases for the Wildcats.
Kimble leaned in the batter’s box for a bunt and the ball went into the dirt with catcher Alex Miller making the stop, but Puffenberger was on his way in an attempt to steal home and had to slide underneath Kimble in the box as Miller applied the tag and Kimble tumbled backward to the ground.
The Wildcats came up empty as Skovron made a strikeout to end the frame.
“That’s not something you are able to really work on in practice. Alex Miller has done a really good job coming into the high school program and listening to what we are saying and working on it. You can really tell and see improvements behind the plate as the season went on and even now. I was thrilled on the stop with bases loaded like that and in the past we have struggled at that point. They held it together tonight and had no problems getting out of the inning,” Coach Heflin said.
Rexrode came in as the closer to replace Thorne in the seventh inning, who had made over 75 pitches for the first time this season.
“In the one inning we got a few things going, but you have to take advantage of that. We were fortunate, then we turned to the bottom of the sixth inning and tried to squeeze bunt and Skovron threw it in the dirt. It was a terrible pitch to try to bunt and the catcher does a nice job blocking the ball and we don’t get anything that inning,” Coach Yokum commented.
“When he takes Kyle’s legs from underneath him and Kyle comes down on him, he comes up a little short from the plate. He has to get out of the way. He would have made it since we had a real good jump, plus the ball was in the dirt and the catcher had to corral the ball. It was an unfortunate turn of events for us right there. Give credit to [Addison] Rexrode for coming in there and getting hit hard, but throwing strikes. He had to face the top of the order and got us out of it and that’s what a senior should do. East Hardy is a very tough team and they are going to get some people, they are going to beat some teams down the road. I am pleased we could hang with them. We don’t play too many 2-1 ballgames, especially after the 17-15 game last time. We have been in some marathon games and it is good to have games like this, so kids understand every pitch is important and every play is important.”
Whetzel hit a leadoff single for the Cougars past the dive of shortstop Kisamore looking to spark momentum for a rally in the final inning.
Alex Miller flew out to center field and Skovron grounded out for the first two outs.
East Hardy’s Brett Tharp was issued an intentional walk as the Cougars were knocking on the door, but Baker hit into a fielder’s choice out at third base to end the game.
Pendleton County swept the battle of the Cats this season with this 2-1 victory.
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