Wheeling Legion Post 1 Downs Richmond, 5-4
WHEELING — Wheeling Post 1 continued its winning ways Friday night.
Coach Mark Delbrugge’s club received a strong mound effort from Matt Gruber and some clutch relief pitching from Colton Coss in pocketing a 5-4 nod over Richmond Post 740 at the I-470 J.B. Chambers Complex.
Post 1 is now 12-3 and heads to Clarksburg today for a twinbill. Richmond fell to 7-10 and hosts Beaver (Pa.) today at Toronto.
Gruber delivered five superb innings before encountering some trouble in the sixth. The Wheeling Central product allowed just four hits and walked a pair in earning the win. He fanned three.
“I am really proud of Matt. He has transitioned well into a full-time pitcher,” Delbrugge said. “Matt is a bulldog and battler. He did a great job tonight. Richmond’s 2-3-4 hitters are tough outs.”
Coss earned the save via his two innings of work. He fanned one and walked one and induced a groundout with the game-tying run at third to end the game.
“I am real happy with where we are at right now,” Delbrugge said. “Richmond is a team much better than its record. They have played a tough schedule and have some real good hitters.”
Richmond proved its own worst enemy, committing five costly errors.
Post 1 took a 1-0 lead in the second. Chad Harper tripled and scored on a Butter Murray groundout. Wheeling added another run in the third courtesy of two Richmond miscues and a Coss sacrifice fly.
Edison cut the gap to 2-1 in the fourth on the strength of a Collin Scott RBI single.
Post 1 stretched its lead with a pair runs in the fifth. Isaac Rine opened with a single followed by a Jarred Delbrugge bunt single. Coss delivered another sac fly, making it 3-1 before an infield error brought home another run.
Richmond made matters interesting in the sixth with a pair of runs. Scott lined another RBI single while Connor Hyndman drew a bases-loaded walk.
Post 1 pushed across what proved-to-be the game-winning run in the home half of the sixth. Vic Giovengo opened with a walk. Ross Salvatori and Rine followed with singles to load the bases. Delbrugge lofted a sacrifice fly, plating Giovengo.
With two outs in the seventh, Richmond unleashed three successive singles, the third coming off the bat of Tanner Evans, making it a 5-4 game. Coss, however, retired the next hitter on a grounder to secure the triumph.
“We made some real bad errors and consequently dug ourselves a big hole,” Post 740 manager Brian Conley said. “We did ourselves in tonight. Our pitching was solid.
“I would like to think we are better than a 7-10 team, but our schedule has been demanding,” he added. “I am glad we added Wheeling to our schedule. I knew that they would give us two good games.”
Rine, Delbrugge and Harper each had two hits for Post 1. Scott had three singles for Richmond while Larry Bielawski had a pair of safeties.
Tristan Haught went the route for Post 734. He scattered eight hits while striking out four and walking two.
POST 1 NOTES
Post 1 has canceled its Sunday varsity twinbill against Hammond, Tenn., scheduled for the I-470 complex, due to travel complications for the Tennessee team. As a result, Post 1 is rescheduling its Alumni Day for July 10. On that day, Post 1 will play 2015 Maryland state champion Funkstown and perennial West Virginia powerhouse South Charleston in the three-team round-robin play. Post 1 plays Funkstown Sunday at 11 a.m. with alumni activities to follow the game at approximately 2:15 pm. Post 1 then plays South Charleston at 4 p.m. Funkstown and South Charleston battle in between.
At the Alumni Day events, all alumni are invited. Post 1 will honor the state champion teams from ’63, ’64 and ’66 and the 1970 team that won the longest game (21 innings) in National American Legion history, beating the Pittsburgh “Little Pirates” 3-2.
For Alumni Day information, call Don Tennant at 304-230-3200.
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