By Carl Holcomb
Coming off a double digit loss to Philip Barbour and falling behind the Eagles 3-0, there was absolutely no thought by the Yellow Jackets to wave the white flag of surrender.
Moorefield displayed tremendous resiliency and never give up attitude in refusing to throw in the towel and instead buzzing for a big rally of hope through faith and determination to a 13-3 victory in the first elimination battle of the Class AA Region II Baseball Tournament at George Hott Field.
“This is a resilient group of players who love to play the game of baseball. They are competitors, so I didn’t have any doubt that they would come out fighting and give their best effort today and extend our season. That’s what you have to do this time of year, take it one game at a time. It doesn’t matter if you are in the loser’s bracket or winner’s bracket. Take it one game and keep moving forward,” Moorefield coach Wade Armentrout commented.
“You never know what your seeding will be going into the playoffs. It was good for our seniors to be able to extend our season and play in front of our home crowd. We have had a very good home crowd all year and I am appreciative of their support and they travel well. The kids see that and respond to that. Now, if you are going to be on the road you have to hit and pitch like you have here at home. Hitting is definitely a contagious action in baseball. Once you see your teammate get that hit, it motivates the next teammate to get a hit. When you put the ball in play, good things will happen. It was nice to see our bottom of the lineup coming through to get us back to the top. Kail has really kept us in games, the way he throws is hard to see and he gets a lot of batters out that way.”
Braxton County started the game with a single and could have been more if not for a diving save by Moorefield shortstop Edison Metheny.
Moorefield pitcher Trevor Baldwin would allow three runs on three hits in the opening frame.
The Eagles first run came on an RBI single by Kelly.
Godfrey smacked a two-run producing double and was over ambitious trying to create a triple and was thrown out at third base with the tag by Eastyn Haines.
Moorefield managed just one run in the bottom half of the frame, but kept the Eagles in check the rest of the game and the bats came alive with seven runs in the third inning and five runs in the fourth inning to complete the elimination win.
The Yellow Jackets got on the board initially as Metheny singled and advanced to third base with the help of a balk and wild pitch, then Oliver Crites delivered an RBI single, 3-1.
The Baldwin reached base on an error during a fielder’s choice, but the runners were left on the pond due to a pair of strikeouts from Kelly.
The Yellow Jackets brought in Kail Greenwalt to the mound keeping Braxton County off-balanced with six strikeouts and just one hit as the defense made smart plays.
Commencing the third inning, Moorefield’s Eastyn Haines sliced a sharp grounder and collided with the leaping first baseman who made the tag coming down with the ball.
Crites got a free pass due to catcher interference and Baldwin drew a walk.
Matthew Iman hammered a game-tying, two-run producing triple for the Yellow Jackets.
Moorefield took the go-ahead lead as Blake Snyder ripped an RBI single, 4-3.
The Yellow Jackets kept the momentum going as Caleb Flinn crushed an RBI single for a 5-3 edge.
Greenwalt added an RBI single Metheny jumped on the pond.
Haines smoked a two-RBI double creating an 8-3 advantage.
Crites launched a rocket to the fence, but lost its air time and was snatched.
Moorefield first baseman Matthew Iman corralled a line drive to begin the fourth inning, then Greenwalt tossed two strikeouts to prevent the Eagles from getting on base.
Baldwin was issued a walk, then a pickoff error enabled advancement to third base.
Iman recorded an RBI dobule into right field with a wicked hop.
Snyder crushed an RBI double into right field for a 10-3 lead.
Flinn reached base on an error and Cyrus Kump received a walk to load the bases.
After two strikeouts by Mays, Haines plated two runs with the assistance of Braxton County blunders creating the final score of 13-3.
Greenwalt induced a groundout to Baldwin, then jammed the next batter for a self caught pop-up and ended the game fanning the last Eagles batter for the 13-3 victory.
Moorefield advanced to play another elimination game against Philip Barbour.
