×

Weir baseball takes a big step

WEIRTON — The Weir High baseball team last night took a huge step toward its goal of playing for the state Class AA championship when it set the tone early and pummeled four Berkeley Springs pitchers in a 13-0 mercy rule win at Ed Bowman Field.

The teams are scheduled to play again today at Berkeley Springs in the best-of-three series.

The Red Riders sent 10 batters to the plate in the first inning and scored five runs. They came back two innings later with seven runs and tallied a single run in the bottom of the fourth inning.

“We came to play tonight,” said victorious coach Jason Angle. “We had a couple of mishaps on the defensive side, but they didn’t come back to hurt us.”

Red Rider ace, Michael Mills scattered three hits while striking out four and issuing one walk.

“Michael threw a really good baseball game,” Angle continued. “He had his good stuff tonight. His command was nice, the location was nice and the defense was there. Our sticks definitely came alive.”

Weir High’s 14-hit attack featured three hits from senior first baseman Adam Cowden and junior second baseman Chris Gillett along with two hits each from Mills, and Levi Mikula. One of Mills’ hits was a home run over the left field fence.

“We have a young team,” said Indian coach Les Morris, who coached Berkeley Springs a couple of years ago, went back on active duty with the Air Force for two years, retired after 25 years of service in January and now is back to renew his coaching career. “We had two freshmen on the field, three sophomores and five juniors.

“Mills threw a nice game and hit his spots. We put the ball in play. We only had three hits but we didn’t have very many strikeouts.

“I think our kids hung their heads a little bit when they went down 5-0 with our number one pitcher on the mound and they do that to him. They didn’t have a lot of fire. We play a heavy schedule with a lot of triple-A schools and we came back many times this year and was competitive.

“I’m confident we can bounce back tomorrow. Our guys know that in baseball you have these games where the other team is better on a particular day. We talked after the game about having a positive attitude with a new day tomorrow.

“I know that when these kids get up tomorrow they’re going to have a good day. We preach that. Athletes have short memories. They can’t dwell on the past. We’ll make some adjustments. We had one error in center field, but mostly Weir hit the ball and there’s nothing you can do when they’re hitting like that.”

Angle, whose club now is 17-9 and on a seven-game winning streak, expects Berkeley Springs will bounce back.

“They’re a young ball club like we were a couple of years ago. We have to go down there and play on their field. We’ve got all our pitchers available now except Michael, but I’m not going to reveal who will be pitching tomorrow.

“It was really good to get that first one today. We’re real pleased with the effort and performance of our guys today.”

The first five batters in the Weir High lineup scored to start the game off of sophomore right hander, Michael Hovermale.

Donavan Spencer, the fastest high school runner in the state, started it off with a walk. Jake Rosnick’s single to right field sent Spencer to third. Rosnick stole second before Mills, who was on base all four of his trips to the plate, walked to load the bases.

Hot hitting junior Chris Gillette plated Spencer and Rosnick with a single down the left field line. Jordan Allen was hit by a pitch and Levi Mikula drove home freshman Sebastian Spencer, the courtesy runner for Mills, along with Gillette.

Adam Cowden’s single scored Matt Anderson, the courtesy runner for Allen.

In the big third inning, Cowden started the rally with his second single. Ryan Bodrog followed with a bunt single and Rosnick walked to load the bases. Mills ripped a single to left field sending Cowden and Bodrog home.

Gillette’s sacrifice fly to right field scored Rosnick. After Allen walked, Mikula got his third RBI of the game with a single to center field and when the ball got through the Indian center fielder another run scored.

Cody Enrietti, who was cleared to play baseball just two weeks ago after rehabbing a knee injury sustained in the football season, ripped a double up the right center field alley to drive in the seventh run of the inning.

Mills’ home run was the only tally of the fourth inning.

If Berkeley Springs can win today, the teams are scheduled to play at Bowman Field again on Thursday.

Weir High 13, Berkeley Springs 0

Berkeley Springs 000 00 0 3 1

Weir High 507 1 13 14 3

BERKELEY SPRINGS (16-16): Hovermale (LP, 0K, 2W), King (0k, 0W), Grapes (0K, 1W), Buttts (1K, 1W) and Farris. Stone, S; Hovermale S; Morris S.

WEIR HIGH (17-9): Mills (WP, 4K, 1W) and Allen. Cowden 2S, D, 2RBI, R; Mills S, HR, 3RBI, 3R, SB; Gillette 2S, 3RBI, R; Rosnick S, 2R, SB; Allen S; Mikula 3S, 3RBI, R; Enrietti D, RBI, R; Bodrog S, R.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today