By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
Moorefield buzzed ahead 2-1 in the first inning, then the Cougars pounced back with a six-run second inning en route to grounding the Yellow Jackets 9-2 at George Hott Field.
“We’ve had a rough go of it this season. We came together and hit the ball better tonight. We only had four or five hits the past three games. We came back ready to hit the ball. I thought tonight we brought the energy and we haven’t brought the energy,” East Hardy skipper Tyler Mongold remarked.
“We talked about that as a team, the biggest thing is bringing the energy. Bring the energy and good things will follow. Being a rivalry game, could have been why we had more energy, but we have had more energy recently. They are bringing the energy and coming ready to play. Being in the game. We have a bunch of younger players and they are bringing the energy to the games and that is important. We have a young pitching staff with all the injuries we have had. I thought Dayton came out and threw well, especially after that rough first inning, he settled down and pitched well. We need all nine guys hitting and tonight it just happened to be the bottom of the order getting timely hits. That’s what we needed for the stretch.”
Yellow Jackets starting pitcher Trevor Baldwin induced a groundout from East Hardy leadoff batter Evan Hamilton with first baseman Cyrus Kump making the play.
East Hardy responded as Shayne Sisler smashed a double into left field.
Moorefield third baseman Blake Snyder fielded a grounder by Levi Price with a throw to Kump for the out.
Garrett Van Meter drew a walk for the Cougars.
East Hardy’s Gage Dove notched an RBI single with Sisler sliding into home plate as Yellow Jackets catcher Oliver Crites corralled the bouncing ball trapping it on his chest plate and attempted to swipe down for the tag which wasn’t in time, 1-nil.
Baldwin jammed Dayton Dove into a pop-up caught by Snyder to retire the side.
East Hardy starting pitcher Dayton Dove commenced the bottom of the first inning with a strikeout to Moorefield leadoff batter Shawn Reed after a foul ball zipped up into the press box.
Dove issued a free pass to Moorefield’s Kail Greenwalt on a full-count, who stole second base moments later.
Baldwin delivered an RBI double to the left field fence to tie the game at 1-all.
Crites was hit by pitch, then both runners advanced on a passed ball entering scoring position.
Ben Watts hit an RBI groundout to give the Yellow Jackets a 2-1 edge, then Dove countered with a strikeout to Kump ending the frame.
East Hardy’s Jordan Teets flew out to start the second inning.
Mason Wilkins ripped a double for the Cougars and tied the game on an RBI single by Patrick Mills.
East Hardy’s momentum continued as Hamilton singled and Sisler was given a walk to load the bases, then Price was beaned sending a run home for a 3-2 lead.
Garrett Van Meter smoked a two-run producing single into left field as the Cougars went up 5-2.
Gage Dove stepped up and belted an RBI single into right field extending the advantage to 6-2.
Baldwin pitched back-to-back walks to Dayton Dove and Teets with the latter creating a run for a 7-2 lead.
Baldwin got out of the jam with a strikeout to Wilkins and Mills hit into a fielder’s choice at second base.
Moorefield’s Gage Wolfe smacked a single, then Caleb Flinn was hit by a pitch.
Snyder slammed a single into center field as the Yellow Jackets loaded the bases.
Reed hit into a double play out at home plate and first base and Moorefield failed to score as Dayton Dove struck out Greenwalt to end the second inning.
Moorefield pitcher Ben Watts saw his pitch fly off the bat of Hamilton, but was caught in left field to start the third inning.
Watts struck out Sisler, then issued a free pass to Price who was stranded on a groundout by Van Meter.
Dove allowed a single by Baldwin, then Crites hit into a fielder’s choice.
Watts was out on a dropped third strike throw to first base and base runner Guyan Kahangirwe was left aboard on a strikeout to Kump.
In the fourth inning, Watts induced two straight groundouts from Gage and Dayton Dove.
Teets reached base on an error and was stranded on a pop-out by Wilkins to Baldwin.
Wolfe hit a chopper next to the mound and Dayton Dove made a diving save and throw to first base for the out from his knees.
The Yellow Jacket would proceed to go down in order on another groundout and flyout.
Watts issued a walk to Mills to begin the fifth inning.
Hamilton hit into a fielder’s choice out at second base and a double play went askew as the ball flew wild into the dugout advancing Hamilton.
Sisler tumbled over first base on a groundout.
Price notched an RBI single into center field to give the Cougars an 8-2 lead, but was stranded on a pop-out by Van Meter.
Dayton Dove pitched a strikeout to Reed, then came out of the game with a 1-2 count on Greenwalt and Gage Dove finished the at-bat with a strikeout.
East Hardy center fielder Levi Price made an over the head catch at the fence to deny a hit by Baldwin and ended the frame.
Moorefield pitcher Blake Snyder started the sixth inning inducing a groundout by Gage Dove.
Dayton Dove reached base on an error at third base.
Snyder jammed Teets for a pop-out at first base.
A pickoff error went sailing over third base with Dove getting up and dashing home to give the Cougars a 9-2 lead.
Wilkins grounded out to retire the side.
Gage Dove beaned Crites and baserunner Guyan Kahangirwe stole second base.
Watts drew a walk, then both runners advanced on a groundout by Holden Crites.
Gage Dove garnered two straight strikeouts to Wolfe and Flinn to deny a score.
Mills smacked a single for the Cougars in the top of the seventh inning and avoided a tag at second base in a double play attempt on a groundout by Hamilton.
Mills was stranded as Sisler and Price grounded out to retire the side.
East Hardy closer Even Hamilton put the Yellow Jackets down in order sandwiching strikeouts to Dylan Colasessano and Greenwalt around a groundout from Reed to secure the Cougars 9-2 victory at the Hive
“We are getting better. We need to keep doing the small things correct and these guys keep getting better as the season progresses. That’s what matters, we just need to keep improving/ [Trailing] That’s an opportunity to come back. It doesn’t matter who scores first, what matters is what happens at the end. We have to keep battling, keep fighting and playing hard and good things are going to happen,” Moorefield coach Wade Armentrout stated.
