TENNERTON – The season opener couldn’t have gone much better for Buckhannon Post 7 general manager Kevin Boring and his team Tuesday night against Kingwood Post 56 at William E. Phillips Memorial Field.
Isaac Lane and Brady Hurst combined to pitch a six-inning no-hitter and Grant Mealey finished the game with a solo walk-off home run as Post 7 dispatched Kingwood by a 10-0 score in six innings of play as the game was called on the 10-run mercy rule.
Lane started the game and went four innings and struck out nine, while Hurst twirled the final two innings and fanned three. The duo combined to walk seven batters.
“I thought Isaac and Brady pitched really well tonight,” Boring said. “We just want them to be more efficient, get ahead of the batter and stay out of the three-ball counts.”
Post 7 struck early as Mealey scored Zach Calef-Boring with a ground out and Lane dropped a single to right field scoring Eli Bryant and Landon Marple.
Post 7 doubled their lead with three more runs in the bottom of the second.
Bryant hit a sacrifice fly that brought home Ian Donnen and Marple stroked a single to left field that scored Josh Nesbitt and Calef-Boring as Buckhannon took a 6-0 advantage. Nesbitt scored Ryan Snyder with a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the third stanza making it a 7-0 game.
A two-run double by Snyder upped the Post 7 lead to 9-0 in the bottom of the fourth.
Following a 20-minute delay when the lights went out at the field, Mealey began the bottom of the sixth ending the game after planting a 3-1 pitch over the left-field fence as the game was halted on the 10-run mercy rule.
Post 7 collected six hits with Snyder leading the way with two and took advantage of 11 Kingwood walks.
“I thought the boys played an overall good ball game,” Boring remarked. “The boys did a good job of competing and staying focused. We talk a lot about taking each at-bat, pitch-by-pitch. We are showing more patience at the plate. The guys are staying engaged in the game whether they are in the lineup or not. I think our fielding was improved today. Coach Marple has taught the boys what we call everyday exercises that are position-specific, and I know they are working on those because our fielding is improving.”
The game became the season opener for Post 7 after Saturday’s home doubleheader with Wellsburg was called off because of the weather.
The Post 7 Junior Legion team is off to a 2-0 start to the season. They defeated Kingwood by a 12-2 score Tuesday and opened their season last Thursday against Grafton and earned a come-from-behind win, taking the game 11-7.
The Junior Legion team will host Clarksburg Wednesday at 6 p.m. and will make the return trip to Clarksburg on Thursday playing Clarksburg at Robert C. Byrd High School at 6 p.m.
Post 7 will be back in action Saturday hosting Capital in a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
The boxscore:
Kingwood 000 000 – 0
Buckhannon 331 201 – 10
E – Kingwood 3; Buckhannon 2. DP – Kingwood 1. LoB – Kingwood 7; Buckhannon 5. 2B – Snyder. HR – Mealey. SB – Marple 2, Mealey 2, Bryant 1, Snyder 1. SF – Bryant.
Hitting
Kingwood Post 56 – Laydon Brandt lf, 3 0 0 0; Easton Gibbs, 2b, 2 0 0 0; Caleb Wharton ss-cr, 1 0 0 0; Richard Layton ss-p, 2 0 0 0; Cam Barlow 3b-ss, 3 0 0 0; Connor McDowell c, 1 0 0 0; Chase George p-1b, 1 0 0 1; Austin Bradley 1b, 0 0 0 0; Jackson Turner rf, 2 0 0 0; Christian Frazee ph, 1 0 0 0; Connor Osborne cf, 2 0 0 0; Braydon Brooks 1b, 0 0 0 0; Kyler Grimes 3b, 1 0 0 0. Totals 19 0 0 0.
Buckhannon Post 7 – Zach Calef-Boring 2b, 1 2 1 0; Eli Bryant lf, 2 1 0 1; Landon Marple ss, 2 1 1 2; Grant Mealey 3b-1b, 2 2 1 2; Isaac Lane p-3b, 3 0 1 2; Drayden Rice cr, 0 0 0 0; Ryder Aman cf, 2 1 0 0; Ryan Snyder rf, 3 1 2 2; Ian Donnen c, 1 1 0 0; Josh Nesbitt 1b, 1 1 0 1; Brady Hurst p, 1 0 0 0. Totals 18 10 6 10.
Pitching
Kingwood Post 56 – George (L): 1 2/3 innings, 2 hits, 6 runs, 6 earned runs, 7 walks, 1 strikeout; 1 wild pitch; Layton: 3 1/3 innings, 4 hits, 4 runs, 4 earned runs, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts; 2 wild pitches, 1 hit batsman (Calef-Boring).
Buckhannon Post 7 – Lane (W, 1-0): 4 innings, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 5 walks, 9 strikeouts; Hurst: 2 innings, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts.
