Williamstown holds off Madonna, 9-7
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WEIRTON -- Jeff Baire knows his young Madonna baseball team is still making some costly mistakes, but it also battles.
The veteran coach saw both on Monday as the Blue Dons dropped a 9-7 decision to visiting state-ranked Williamstown at Bowman Field.
"It's kind of been our M.O. all year, we are battling, we just have to figure out what it takes to win a ballgame," Baire said. "We still get in situations where we hurt ourselves … when you play the teams we play on a day-in, day-out basis, they're going to take advantage of those mistakes.
"Williamstown is a good program year-in and year-out, they have been since my first stint at Madonna back from 2008-12. Even back then we knew they were a team we were going to deal with to get through the regional. It's no different now.
"We played them well at the beginning of the year and we feel like we match up well with them, our region has got to be one of the hardest regions in any division in the state."
The Dons (2-8) committed four errors in the game and fell behind 5-0 in the fourth, but battled back to within 5-4 in the bottom half of the inning. And, after the Yellowjackets (9-2) had taken a 9-5 lead, got within two with no one out in the seventh before the visitors were able to fend off the rally.
"We're getting there, we're making progress, we just have to do the small things that it takes to win a ballgame," Baire said. "That's the challenge of having a young team. We hit the ball well, we just have to get where we are mentally tough enough to deal with the adversity. Playing a schedule like we play, you're going to get hit in the mouth at times, the question is how do you respond to it? There's that moment of uncertainty, you hesitate or pause for a second and next thing you know you're down five runs.
"We kept fighting after getting in that hole, but what happens if we don't get in a five-run hole? That's part of bringing along a young team. It's not easy to win a baseball game.
"That's our challenge, the talent is there, we've played with every team on our schedule so far, it's just a matter of getting these guys where we need to be."
After Williamstown jumped ahead with a run each in the second and third and a three-run top of the fourth, Madonna came charging back with two-run doubles from Leyland Nagy and Kolton Grishkevich in the bottom of the fourth.
After the Yellowjackets had pulled ahead 7-4, Grishkevich knocked in his third RBI of the game in the bottom of the sixth, making it 7-5.
Williamstown got a pair of insurance runs across in the top of the seventh, which proved to be vital as Luke Amaismeier doubled to lead off the bottom half and David Connors, who finished a double shy of the cycle, crushed a two-run homer in the next at bat to make it 9-7, but Madonna was unable to find another big hit.
"Madonna is a good team, every time we play them it's a battle," Williamstown head coach Levi Maxwell said. "They're the type of team that never gives up and they're always going to keep scrapping away and be a challenge. It's good for our guys to see we can hold a lead and keep battling, too. It's also a good learning experience for them to see that no lead is safe in high school baseball."
UP NEXT
Williamstown: Travels to Ritchie County today.
Madonna: Hosts another state-ranked opponent today as Musselman, who is ranked in the top-5 in Class AAA, comes to Bowman Field.
Williamstown 9, Madonna 7
Williamstown 0-1-1 3-0-2 2 – 9 9 2
Madonna 0-0-0 4-0-1 2 – 7 10 4
WILLIAMSTOWN (9-2): Hill (WP, 4IP, 4R, 4K, 1BB), Ott (SV, 3IP, 3R, 4K, 0BB) and Ankrom. Schramm S, D, RBI; Thomas D, 2RBI; Molessa RBI; Coleman D, S, RBI; Ott 2S, 2RBI; Powell 2S, RBI.
MADONNA (2-8): Parker (LP, 4IP, 5R, 3K), Lazear (1IP, 2R, 2K), Amaismeier (2IP, 2R, 2K) and Amaismeier and Geer. Gishkevich D, S, 3RBI; Connors HR, T, S, 2RBI; Wilharm S; Nagy D, 2RBI; Miller S; Lazear S; Amasimeier D.