WEIRTON - Jordan Johnson is having a a heckuva start to the Edgar Martin Beast of the East Baseball Classic. It's a good thing because Weirton Post 10 is living on the edge.
Weirton had to rally twice but left Day 1 of the tournament with a 2-0 record after an 8-6 victory against the Bullpen Titans and a 7-5 victory against Youth Services League, both from New York, at Ed Bowman Field.
In the nightcap, Weirton (11-6) looked to have things in control up 3-0 and with John Shaw pitching a solid game. But YSL tied the game in the fourth and took a 5-3 lead into the seventh after a two-run single from Chris Morris.
''We played a couple sloppy games but you have to hand it to these guys, they don't give up,'' Weirton manager Bill Magnone said. ''We have done it all year and have a bunch of six- or seventh-inning rallies so I never give up on them.''
Things got started on the right foot in the seventh as Steve Barr led off with a double. After a fielder's choice, he scored when Shaw's double to center was misplayed by the YSL center fielder and went to the wall. Shaw stood on third as the tying run.
YSL relief pitcher Justin Liriano, who came on in the seventh for the save, struck out Cody Harmon to send Post 10 to its final out.
Matt Cessna's sharp groundball couldn't be handled by the YSL shortstop and Shaw scored.
Two pitches later, Johnson hit a towering two-run shot over the 315-feet sign over the left-field fence as Post 10 regained a lead.
''He looked for the first pitch to drive and he did what we asked,'' Magnone said.
Chris Perna came on in relief to earn a victory, putting YSL down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh.
''We have got to play better early on,'' Magnone said. ''You can't live on the edge and expect to have luck on your side every time. We have to take this game-by-game and we have one (today) at 10:30 a.m. There are a lot of good teams here so I feel fortunate to be 2-0.''
Harmon, Barr, and Brent Pellen each had RBI singles for Post 10.
In the opener, Johnson hit another two-run run home run and also added an RBI double. Perna had a two-run double. Weirton trailed 6-0 before scoring eight runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
