TENNERTON – Three games, three 10-run mercy rule victories.
The season couldn’t be off to a better start for Buckhannon-Upshur head baseball coach Adam Squires and his Buccaneers after downing the North Marion Huskies by a 17-7 score in five innings of work Thursday evening at William E. Phillips Memorial Field.
B-U has outscored their three opponents this year by a 46-16 margin.
The Bucs piled up 11 hits, including four extra base hits against the Huskies in the five-inning game, with senior Zach Calef-Boring going a perfect three-for three with a double, a triple and three runs knocked in.
“We just flat out hit the ball well today,” remarked Squires. “Zach set the tone from the very start and everyone else followed suit. It’s great to be off to a good start and gaining some confidence.”
Calef-Boring complimented his teammates for his performance and the win.
“Tonight was a great team effort all the way around,” stated Calef-Bornig. “When you have guys coming into the game excited and ready to compete that’s when you know you’re going to be successful. We know this season we have a good chance of being a top team in the state now it’s just all about consistency and being a close-knit group of guys ready to compete.”
The Bucs wasted little time in putting the Huskies away with a seven-run first inning.
As Squires said, Calef-Boring started the game off with a triple and the Bucs never looked back. The first seven batters all reached base as they sent 12 batters to the plate in taking their 7-0 lead.
North Marion scored three runs in the top of the second, but the Bucs answered with three runs of their own in their half of the inning.
Ian Donnen scored on a passed ball, Payton Bennett scored on a ground out and Jaden Westfall scored on a single by Tucker Burr. That gave the Bucs a 10-3 lead.
B-U added seven more runs in the bottom of the third sending 11 batters to the plate for a 17-3 lead.
North Marion tacked on two runs in the top of the fourth and fifth innings but it wasn’t enough to stop the game from being halted on the 10-run mercy rule.
Calef-Boring led the B-U offense with his three hits while Landon Marple had two.
Burr earned the win for the Bucs tossing 3 1/3 innings of relief. He allowed two earned runs on six hits while fanning three.
Cole Malnick and Joseph Hess each had two hits for the Huskies.
Will Lemasters suffered the loss as he lasted just 2/3 of an inning giving up seven runs on five hits.
The Bucs, now 3-0 on the year, were rained out Friday at Robert C. Byrd.
They will be back on the diamond Monday hosting Grafton at 5 p.m.
The boxscore:
North Marion 030 22 – 7
Buckhannon-Upshur 7370 x – 17
E – North Marion 0; Buckhannon-Upshur 1. DP – None. LoB – North Marion 7; Buckhannon-Upshur 5. 2B – Hess, Westfall, Snyder, Calef- Boring 3B – Calef-Boring. SF – Crites. SB – Westfall 3; Bennett 2, Snyder 2, Marple 2, Bryant 1, Calef-Boring 1, Rice 1.
Hitting
North Marion – Parker Kincell cf, 3 0 1 1; Will Lemasters p-1b-c, 2 1 1 2; Cole Malnick ss, 3 1 2 2; Joesph Hess dh-p, 3 0 2 2; Brock Martin lf, 3 0 0 0; Landon Adams 1b-p, 2 1 0 0; Spencer Parrish 2b. 2 1 0 0; Captain Weekly 3b, 3 1 1 0; Rylan Craig c, 1 0 0 0; Brady Anderson ph, 1 1 0 0; Cyrus Collins cr, 0 1 0 0; Ryder Bland rf, 0 0 0 0. Totals 23 7 7 7.
Buckhannon-Upshur – Zach Calef-Boring 2b, 3 2 3 3; Drahden Rice 2b, 0 2 0 0; Elijah Bryant rf, 2 2 1 0; Landon Marple cf, 3 2 2 0; Ian Donnen c, 1 0 1 3; Gage Parsons c, 1 0 0 0; Payton Bennett lf, 2 3 1 1; Jaden Westfall 1b, 2 3 1 2; Ryan Snyder dh, 2 2 1 3; Wyatt Mason dh, 1 0 0 0; Clint Crites 3b, 2 0 0 2; Brayden Hamer p, 0 1 0 0; Tucker Burr p, 2 0 1 1; Blake Runyon 3b, 0 0 0 0. Totals 21 17 11 15.
Pitching
North Marion – Lemasters (L): 2/3 of an inning, 5 hits, 7 runs, 7 earned runs, 4 walks, 0 strikeouts, 2 wild pitches; Adams: 1 1/3 innings, 5 hits, 9 runs, 9 earned runs, 1 walk 1 strikeout, 1 wild pitch, 4 hit batsmen (Donnen 2, Bennett 2); Hess: 2 innings, 1 hit, 1 run, 1 earned run, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, 1 wild pitch.
Buckhannon-Upshur – Hamer: 1 2/3 innings, 1 hit, 3 runs, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts, 1 wild pitch, 4 hit batsmen (Lemasters, Parrish, Craig, Malnick); Burr (W): 3 1/3 innings, 6 hits, 4 runs, 2 earned runs, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 1 wild pitch, 1 hit batsmen (Lemasters).
