Red Riders open new field with a victory
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WEIRTON -- Kody Carver and the Catholic Central baseball team seemed to be in good shape going into the bottom of the fifth inning against Weir.
The Crusaders led 1-0 at the point, however, the Red Riders erupted for three runs in each of the next two innings as Weir christened its new turf baseball field with a 6-2 victory on a windy Wednesday evening.
"This group is a mature group," Weir (5-2) head coach Dave Cowden said. "They stayed the course. They were focused.
"We have hit the ball well the last week. When you put the ball in play, you put pressure on the defense and good things happen. They threw the ball around. We bunted a couple of times. We were aggressive on the bases. I don't know how many stolen bases we had. I would say eight to 10.
"Trae Cook started. We have a big doubleheader upcoming. We have the Fairmont teams coming in. We wanted to keep him under 75 pitches, and he threw 72. We brought a freshman in – Alex Zanieski – in, and he finished it for us.
"Catholic Central is a good team. They had a good record last year. They are a good team. They are well coached.
"I was proud of our effort tonight. This was our home opener here. The county put a lot of money into this field. It was great to come away with the win."
The Crusaders did not have an error going into the fifth, however, the visitors made six errors in the next two innings enabling the hosts to score multiple runs.
"We're playing some inexperienced guys," Catholic Central (0-1) head coach Don Young said. "I was happy with our effort. There were a lot of little things that hurt us. This was our first game. We did play two scrimmages.
"We have three inexperienced guys to go along with our six returners, and the guys on the bench our inexperienced as well. We are going to have to learn as we go.
"Weir has a good team. They had two good pitchers. We swung the bats well, but we hit some right at them.
"We have to shore some things up. We are going to be a work in progress. I am happy with our effort. We did a lot of good things."
Cook picked up the win for the Red and Black. Cook struck out seven without walking a batter in his five innings of work on the mound. Zanieski came on to start the sixth, and he pitched the final two innings. Zanieski struck out four and walked three.
Carver took the loss for the Blue and Gold. He struck out six without walking a batter. He was replaced during the fifth by Alex Solema. Solema pitched the next 1/ 2/3 innings. He did not record a strikeout while walking three. Eli Fayak replaced Solema with two outs in the sixth. Fayak was able to record the final out of the inning. He did not record a strikeout or a walk.
"They had Cook on the mound," Young said. "We know him well. He is one of the better pitches in the valley. We swung the bat well against him. We just took too many pitches the first time through.
"We are going to have to learn to play in the field. We are going to continue to be a work in progress. Cook is a very good pitcher."
Fayak started off the game by getting hit by a pitch. Then with two outs, Carver doubled home Fayak, who previously stole second, to give the boys from Jefferson County a 1-0 lead.
The score remained 1-0 until the home half of the fifth.
Lucas McAllister, who transferred to Weir after playing football in the fall at Big Red, led off the inning with a double off the fence in center. Then, Teddy Glyptis collected his second single of the day, and McAllister, who kept running on the play, scored when the throw home sailed over Tyler Ialenti's head to tie the score at 1. Glyptis ended up on second on the play.
Glyptis scored on a single by Nico Glass to give the boys from Hancock County a 2-1 lead, and Glass ended up on second on an error. He moved up on a wild pitch, and he scored on a groundout by Colson Kimmel to give the boys in black, a 3-1 advantage.
The boys in blue cut into their deficit in the sixth.
Peyton Rauch recorded a double, and he moved up on a wild pitch before scoring on an errant throw to third to pull Catholic Central to within 3-2.
The victors regained control in the bottom half of the inning.
Glass and Kimmel each tallied RBI singles, while the other run scored on a Crusader error as Weir extended its advantage to 6-2.
Catholic Central had a final chance to tie or take the lead in the seventh, however, things did not look promising after the first two batters got out. The Crusaders, however, did not throw in the towel as they ended up loading the bases. The pressure was on, however, Zaneiski record a strikeout to end the threat and the ballgame.
"It is not ever easy," Cowden said. "We got the first out. Coach Young brought a young kid in. We thought it would be three easy outs. They were giving some younger guys some reps, but they were able to load the bases. Fortunately, we were able to get out of it."
Weir outhit Catholic Central, 8-7, while the Red Riders only made one error to the Crusaders six.
"We made too many mistakes," Young said. "They are a good team. We were able to get the bases loaded.
"We are going to keep working. We want to get better every day. That's the goal.
"We made them think. We are never going to give up."
Mason Meeks – Catholic Central's No. 9 hitter – singled three times, while Brayden Rauch and Anthony Kerker each recorded a single.
Cayden Braswell and G Cross each contributed a base hit for Weir.
"Absolutely, the kids were excited to play on it, and they are excited to practice on," Cowden said asked if his players were excited about playing their first game on the new field on the campus of the high school. "It was nice to get a win on the field.
"We started off a little slow. We got things straightened out. We moved guys into different positions. I think we have got things straightened out now."
The baseball field is where the softball team's old field was behind Jimmy Carey Stadium.
"It is a nice field," Young said. "They have played seven games. They have been able to figures some things out. We made too many mistakes, but we hung in there."
Four games are scheduled to play Saturday at Weir as Oak Glen will also play a doubleheader.
Weir will open the day by playing Fairmont Senior at 10 a.m. Fairmont Senior will then play Oak Glen at 12:30 in the second game of the day. Oak Glen will then play North Marion at 3 p.m. before the Red Riders and Huskies meet in the final game of the day at 5:30 p.m.
The Crusaders are off the rest of the week. Catholic Central is slated to play Wellsville at 5 p.m. Tuesday at home at Vaccaro Field before taking on Weir for the second time the next day.
Weir 6, Catholic Central 2
Catholic Central 100 001 0 – 2 7 6
Weir 000 033 X – 6 8 1
CATHOLIC CENTRAL (0-1): Carver LP (4IP, 6K, 0BB), Solema (1 2/3IP, 0K, 3BB), Fayak (1/3IP, 0K, 0BB) and Ialenti. P. Rauch D; Carver D, RBI; B. Rauch S; Kirker S; Meeks 3S
WEIR (2-5): Cook WP (5IP, 7K, 0BB), Zanieski (2IP, 4K, 3BB) and McAllister. Braswell S; Cross S; McAllister D; Glyptis 2S; Glass 2S, 2RBI; Kimmel S, 2RBI