GLEN DALE - In a four-day tournament such as the Edgar Martin Beast of the East Baseball Classic, it is very important to get out of Day 1 with at least one victory.
Moundsville Post 3 fought off a poor performance in Game 1 on Thursday afternoon, and battled back for an impressive afternoon victory.
Todd Schmidt singled three times and picked up a victory on the mound while Wylie Koontz plated three runs and four pitchers combined to scatter 10 hits as Moundsville took a big early lead and held on for a 9-6 triumph against Chapmanville at sweltering Monarch Field.
Article Photos
Moundsville’s Todd Schmidt dives back to first safely as Chapmanville first baseman Wilson Nickerson digs out the throw during action of the Beast of the East Tournament game Thursday afternoon in Glen Dale.
Photo by Jim Elliott
Manager Bill Burkett's 14-8 record squad returns to action this afternoon against the Port Clinton Post Cards at 1 p.m. and 5 Tool Baseball Academy at 3:30 p.m.
''We were just dead that first game, but we bounced back nicely and got an important win in the second,'' Burkett said.
After getting blanked on one hit in the opener, Post 3 put together four hits and scored three times in the top of the first in the second game to take control early.
Jake Lucas got it started with a one-out single before stealing second and coming home on John Mirandy's RBI base hit. Winning pitcher Todd Schmidt added a single before starting pitcher Tanner Hanna chased home the second run with a sacrifice fly and Ryan Hughes made it 3-0 with an RBI.
The runs kept coming in the second frame with Moundsville putting up three more runs on three hits. Lucas' one-out double put runners at second and third with one run crossing on Mirandy's fielder's choice and the other on an error on the throw to first.
Hanna's second sacrifice fly in as many innings produced his second RBI and a 6-0 margin.
Chapmanville finally got on the board in the home-half of the third with a leadoff double, stolen base and Tristan Thompson's run-scoring fielder's choice to cut the deficit to 6-1.
Wylie Koontz's two-run single in the fourth made it 8-1 before the down-state W.Va. squad added a run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning.
Things got a little more interesting in the fifth when Rocco Wilcox chased home a run with a base hit and the score moved to 8-4 when Chapmanville added a run on a wild pitch.
Koontz added an RBI single in the sixth to push the count back to 9-4.
Post 3 made it interesting in the bottom of the seventh, allowing three consecutive singles to begin the inning for a 9-5 score. Chapmanville then loaded the bases before Mitchel French entered, and after allowing an RBI single, shut the door to end the contest.
''I was hoping that I wouldn't have to use four pitchers, but that is what it took to get the job done,'' Burkett said. ''Now we are in a situation with three days to go that I don't really know who is throwing when.
''But we were able to get some big hits here and there (Thursday) and everyone contributed in one way or the other.''
Mark Walker's single in the fifth inning was the only hit for Post 3 in the opener as Up To Bat shut out Moundsville, 7-0.
Carlos Ortiz had the big stick, collecting three hits and three RBI, including a solo-home run leading off the sixth inning for Up To Bat.
