Dresden, Bulldogs down to last chance

Posted: Friday, May 3, 2013 12:00 pm

One more chance is all two area teams will get.
Dresden and Gleason are in a must-win situation now as both teams lost in the opening round of the double-elimination District 13A baseball tournament.
Dresden lost to West Carroll 7-3 on a bases-clearing double in the top of the seventh by the Eagles. The Lions fall to the loser’s bracket and will go against Big Sandy today as the tournament shifts from the higher seeded team’s home field to Huntingdon.
Big Sandy lost to Huntingdon 8-1 on Tuesday. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
The Bulldogs let a 3-1 lead slip away from them as Bruceton rallied for an 8-4 win on Tuesday. Gleason will now face Clarksburg in the loser’s bracket at 5 p.m. today. The Rockets lost to McKenzie 19-1 on Tuesday.
WC 7, Dresden 3
Dresden head coach Scott Killebrew said they have a game after the Eagles tied it at 3-all in the third inning, and they did have a game until West Carroll’s number five hitter in the lineup hit a bases-clearing double with two outs on the first pitch he saw from Nathan Coleman.
“Their number five hitter saw that first-pitch changeup from Coleman and he went with the pitch,” Killebrew said. “We got him to strike out on each plate appearance on that changeup prior to that at-bat. Coleman pitched a really good game for us.”
WC only got five hits off of Coleman for the game.
The Eagles attempted to jump on Coleman early in game as the first two batters swung at the first pitch they saw and sent to ball harmlessly out to centerfield, where Logan Thomas hauled them in for the first two outs.
West Carroll’s third hitter was little more patient as he waited for the second pitch that had the same result as the first two batters.
Dresden scored in the bottom of the first when Thomas crossed the plate after Zac Seat reached on a fielder’s choice.
Thomas reached base after he was hit by a pitch, stole second and then went to third on a passed ball.
A sacrifice fly scored one run in the top of the second for WC and Dresden retook the lead with two runs in the bottom of the inning.
Kaleb Houston walked, then went to second on a passed ball and ended up on third after the Eagles’ Robert Reynolds threw a wild pitch.
He struck out the next two batters before Dalton Cashion smash a hit that went over the right fielder’s head for a triple and scored Houston.
Another wild pitch allowed Cashion to score to make it 3-1. The umpires had a little discussion on the mound with Reynolds after he was not giving them and the batters time to get set.
He then struck out Kourtney Sawyer on a swinging pitch.
“The umps thought he was trying to work a little too fast, Killebrew said. “We were giving our batters some long signs to try to mess with him.”
It did not seem to faze Reynolds as he ended up with 14 strikeouts and only allowed five hits.
Cashion was the Lions leading hitter going 2-for-3 with a triple, a single and one RBI.
Bruceton 8, Gleason 4
When your pitcher is not effective in a tournament game, it is time make a switch. That is what Gleason head coach Jason Stephens did in the third inning, but it did not make much of a difference.
Stephens pulled starting pitcher Blake Taylor before he could get through the third inning after Bruceton scored three runs to take a 4-3 lead.
Taylor had problems finding the strike zone and walked eight batters in 22⁄3 innings. He allowed just a pair of hits and struck out one.
Mark McKenzie came on in relief and allowed four earned runs on six hits, including a home run, and four walks. He struck out six in 31⁄3 innings.
The Bulldogs scored three in the first inning and one in the sixth for their only runs.
Chase Ezell, Avery Orr and Taylor all drov in a run. No Gleason batter had more than one hit as the Bulldogs only had five in the game.
Both Hunter Corum and Archie Rich hit a double for the Bulldogs.

Published in The WCP  5.2.13

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