MYRTLE BEACH (SC) – The start of the Mingo Bay Classic couldn’t haven’t went much better for Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Adam Squires and his Buckhannon-Upshur baseball Buccaneers.
The Bucs made the trip to Myrtle Beach for the Mingo Bay Classic and opened on Monday with a convincing 10-0 six-inning victory over the Man (WV) Hillbillies.
Man has been a traditional power in Class A in West Virginia as they finished runner-up in the state in 2021.
“Man is a quality team,” stated Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Adam Squires. “Their pitcher (Bo Thompson) was as good as anyone we have seen this far in the season. We did a nice job or manufacturing some runs early. Once we were able to get into the bullpen we were able to start hitting and scoring in bunches.”
Drahden Rice pitched a gem of a game for the Bucs tossing five shutout innings allowing just three hits while not walking a batter and striking out six.
“Rice pitched a very solid game for us and was in control of his pitches,” said Squires.
The Bucs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Elijah Bryant walked, went to third on a single by Clint Crites and then stole home on a delayed steal.
B-U made it 2-0 in the top of the third when Zach Calef-Boring singled to left and later scored.
After chasing Thompson from the game, the Bucs went to town on the Man bullpen scoring seven run in the top of the fifth sending 10 batters to the plate.
B-U managed just two hits in the inning getting a single from Landon Marple and a double from Ian Donnen. The Bucs capitalized on five Man errors to help aid in the seven-run inning which treated them to a 9-0 lead.
Buckhannon-Upshur pushed their lead to 10 in the top of the sixth when Marple drew a walk, swiped second and third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Donnen.
The game was halted after the sixth inning on the 10-run mercy rule.
The Bucs managed five hits in the game with Calef-Boring, Marple, Donnen, Payton Bennett and Crites each getting one.
The Bucs did not commit an error in the game.
“We played well defensively,” remarked Squires. “Marple had a great diving catch that really seemed to take the momentum from them early in the game. Overall it was great team win.”
The win improved the Bucs to 5-1.
They were slated to play Altmar Parish (NY) on Tuesday and Randleman (NC) on Wednesday.
There opponent for Thursday was yet to be determined at press time.
The boxscore:
Buckhannon-Upshur 011 071 – 10
Man 000 000 0 – 0
E –Buckhannon-Upshur 0; Man 4. DP – Buckhannon-Upshur 1. LoB – Buckhannon-Upshur 5, Man 0. 2B – Donnen, Bennett, SF – Donnen, Calef-Boring. SB – Marple 4, Bennett 3, Hamer, Crites, Snyder, Bryant, Calef-Boring.
Hitting
Buckhannon-Upshur – Zach Calef-Boring 2b, 3 2 1 1; Jaden Westfall 1b, 4 0 0 0; Landon Marple cf, 2 2 1 2; Ian Donnen c, 3 0 1 2; Payton Bennett lf, 2 1 1 0; Ryan Snyder dh-p, 2 1 0 0; Elijah Bryant rf, 2 2 0 0; Clint Crites 3b, 0 1 1; Brayden Hamer ss, 1 1 0 1; Gage Parsons cr, 0 1 0 0; Blake Runyon 3b, 0 0 0 0; Drahden Rice p, 0 0 0 0. Totals 22 10 5 7.
Man – Jace Adkins cf, 2 0 0 0; Cameron Gerace c, 2 0 0 0; Braxton Messer ss,2 0 0 0; Bo Thompson p-2b 2 0 1 0; Kaden Dickerson 1b, 2 0 0 0; Hunter Gibson dh-3b, 1 0 0 0 0; Gavyn Cline 3b, 1 0 1 0; John McCoy 3b, 1 0 1 0; Gavin Bartram 3b, 0 0 0; Brayden Compton 2b-p, 1 0 0 0; Hayden Fraley p, 1 0 0 0; Colton Miller lf, 2 0 0 0. Totals 18 0 3 0.
Pitching
Buckhannon-Upshur – Rice (W): 5 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts; Snyder: 1 inning, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts.
Man – Thompson (L): 4 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs, 2 earned runs, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts; Compton: 1/3 of an inning, 2 hits, 6 runs, 4 earned runs, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts, 1 hit batsman (Bennett); Fraley: 1 2/3 innings, 2 runs, 1 earned run, 4 walks, 0 strikeouts, 1 balk.
