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NEW MANCHESTER -- Some teams just thrive on being the underdog.
Oak Glen came into Tuesday's second game of the Class AA Region 1 Championship series with its backs to the wall, having seen Keyser score 10-straight runs a day earlier in the opening game of the best-of-three and having had a more than three-hour bus ride home to think about it Monday night.
And, as they have before, coach Eric Hayden's group responded.
Senior hurler Chase Patterson tossed a complete game shutout on the mound and the Golden Bears were able to produce just enough offense to scratch out a 2-0 win at the Field of Dreams Complex to knot the series at 1-1 and force a winner-take-all Game 3.
"We were led by our seniors," Hayden said. "Chase Patterson was great on the mound, he's been a bulldog for us all season, and senior Hunter Rhoades had two hits at the plate.
"We came out and executed very well. It was a great team effort.
"It was very important to us (to win the seniors' last game at home). This group has been through a lot, their first year was COVID … they've put a lot of work in and a lot of hours in.
"This senior group has led this team and we're going to lean on them until we get to Charleston."
They'll take another long bus ride as the teams will decide the series today at Keyser.
"We're fighters," Hayden said of his group's response after losing Game 1 10-1. "Not many people had us here, we talked about it clear back in the beginning of the year in the gym. We're the snake in the grass. Nobody expects us to get it done, but this group is capable of getting it done and they've proved that, and we're not done.
"We're not ready to be done, we're going back down there fight some more."
Patterson fanned seven, walked just two and scattered six hits to come through with the clutch victory on the hill. He got out of a jam in the seventh to close things out, stranding Golden Tornado (19-6) base runners on second and third to end the game. He fired just over 100 pitches in going all seven, more than 60 percent for strikes, while his defense played errorless ball behind him.
"Pitching is everything, and he's been great for us," Hayden said. "Here at home, at Fairmont (in sectionals), when we've needed him, we've been able to lean on him."
As they did in the opener Monday, the Golden Bears (14-11) struck first, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when Maddox McKay put a ball in play with two outs and the Keyser infield committed its second error of the inning, allowing TJ Decapio to score.
In the sixth, Robert Carter gave the Golden Bears a little more breathing room driving in Decapio, who had gotten to third on Tyler McKay's double.
Keyser's Noah Broadwater fired six strikeouts and walked just one, while teammate Josh Shoemaker had a pair of base hits.
"The first part of (Monday's game) was tight, too, (Tuesday) we just couldn't get hits when we needed them" Keyser head coach Scott Rohrbaugh said. "We either struck out or hit it at people and to their credit, their guys made the plays. There was good pitching on both sides, both teams left runners on … it was a good game.
"When you get to this point, it's not supposed to be easy. We'll try again (today)."