TENNERTON – Brady Hurst pitched five solid innings and Buckhannon Post 7 played a flawless game on defense as they downed Clarksburg Post 13 by a 16-6 score in a game that was called on the 10-run mercy rule after six innings Sunday afternoon at William E. Phillips Memorial Field.
Hurst twirled five strong innings and gave up just three runs on three hits while walking just one and striking out five to pick up the win.
“Brady has been one of our most consistent pitchers this year,” noted Buckhannon Post 7 manager Kevin Boring. “He did a really good job. He is doing a good job with his pitch location and keeping the ball down. Brady set the table well for us in this game.”
The Buckhannon Post 7 defense was stellar the entire game as they didn’t commit any errors.
“With the season winding down and the Area V tournament right around the corner, it is important for us to play good defense,” said Boring. “Anytime you can limit the at-bats of the other team by not letting them on base with errors, that is a good thing. If we can play cleanly in the field and limit our walks like we did today, it gives us a chance to be successful.”
Buckhannon was down by a 1-0 score in the bottom of the second when they chased across three runs behind a two-run single from Ryder Aman and a one-run single by Eli Bryant.
Clarksburg made it a 3-2 game with a run in the top of the fourth, but Post 7 countered with five runs in their half of the inning.
Landon Marple had an RBI and Grant Mealey crushed a two-run triple to left field while Post 7 took advantage of four Clarksburg errors in the inning along with three walks for an 8-2 advantage.
A solo home run in the top of the fifth by Clarksburg’s Caleb Angeline made it a 8-3 contest, but Post 7 matched that run in their half of the fifth when Drayden Rice started the inning with a walk and crossed home on a wild pitch upping the Post 7 lead to 9-3.
Clarksburg made it a 9-6 contest with a trio of runs in the top of the sixth inning but Buckhannon ended the game in their half of the sixth on the mercy rule with a seven-run outburst.
Post sent 12 players to the plate with the benefit of just three hits while capitalizing on five walks and a hit batsman.
Buckhannon had eight hits in the win with Aman, Bryant, Marple and Mealey each getting two.
Clarksburg was limited to five hits in the setback.
A day earlier, Post 7 made the trip to John Marshall High School and split a pair of games with Moundsville and Follansbee.
They defeated Moundsville by a 12-11 score but dropped the nightcap to Follansbee by a 10-4 score.
The trio of games left Buckhannon Post 7 with a 10-13 record.
“Overall, it was a really good weekend,” concluded Boring. “Really this entire past week, we had some of younger kids step up. We saw a lot of good things this weekend.”
Post 7 will be back in action Wednesday on the road at Elkins Post 29 in a key Area V contest.
That contest will be played at Bluegrass Park and start at 6:30 p.m.
Buckhannon will return home Friday and host Garrett County (Md.) Post 71/214 at 7 p.m.
The boxscore:
Clarksburg 010 113 – 6
Buckhannon 030 517 – 16
E – Clarksburg 5, Buckhannon 0. DP – None. LoB – Clarksburg 2, Buckhannon 9. 2B – Ludwick, Heslep. 3B – Mealey. HR – Angeline. SB – Cook 2, Aman, Marple, Mealey, Snyder. Sac. – Rice.
Hitting
Clarksburg Post 13 – Brody Byrd ss, 3 0 0 0; Dom Bombardiere 2b, 2 0 0 0; Tanner Cook cf, 3 2 1 0; Luke Davisson c, 3 1 1 1; Aiden Eddy 3b, 1 2 0 0; Josh Thomaschek p, 2 0 0 0; Jason Ludwick p-1b, 1 0 1 2; Preston Heslep 1b-p, 3 0 1 2; Tyler Marra rf, 3 0 0 0; Caleb Angeline lf, 2 1 1 1. Totals 23 6 5 6.
Buckhannon Post 7 – Ryder Aman cf, 5 2 2 2; Eli Bryant rf, 3 1 2 2; Landon Marple ss, 5 2 2 3; Grant Mealey 3b, 3 2 2 2; Zach Calef-Boring 2b, 2 0 0 1; Wyatt Mason 2b, 0 1 0 0; Ryan Snyder dh, 2 2 0 1; Peyton Bennett 1 1 0 0; Ian Donnen c, 3 0 0 0; Gage Parsons c, 0 1 0 0; Drayden Rice 1b, 1 4 0 0; Brady Hurst p, 0 0 0 0; Tucker Burr p, 0 0 0 0. Totals 25 16 8 10.
Pitching
Clarksburg Post 13 – Thomaschek (L): 3 1/3 innings, 5 hits, 8 runs, 3 earned runs, 5 walks, 2 strikeouts, 2 wild pitches, 1 hit batsman (Mealey); Ludwick: 2 innings, 1 hit, 4 runs, 4 earned runs, 7 walks, 2 strikeouts, 3 wild pitches, 1 balk; Heslep: 1/3 of an inning, 2 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts, 1 hit batsman (Calef-Boring).
Buckhannon Post 7 – Hurst (W): 5 innings, 3 hits, 3 runs, 3 earned runs, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts; Burr: 1 inning, 2 hits, 3 runs, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts, 1 wild pitch.
