FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Class AA No. 1 Bridgeport won a top 10 matchup on Monday night, beating No. 7 Fairmont Senior on the road 11-0.
Senior Koby Kiefer picked up the complete game, shutout win on the mound, scattering seven Fairmont Senior hits on the night.
“He wanted the ball and he did a great job with it,” said veteran Bridgeport coach Robert Shields. “He was very efficient, he threw a lot of strikes and forced them to hit his pitch. He did a nice job.”
Kiefer threw 19 first-pitch strikes to the 28 batters he faced, ending the night with four strikeouts.
The Indians (16-6) had entered the week riding a four game losing streak after losses to Class AAA opponents Morgantown and Jefferson, along with two out-of-state setbacks to schools in Virginia.
“My fastball was working well and I was getting my curveball in there for strikes,” Kiefer said. “We just came together and bounced back. We have a lot of games this week and we just have to keep working at getting better every day. We have a great bond and trust in each other, so things are coming together.”
The Indians earlier in the day defeated Robert C. Byrd in dominant fashion as well, 16-3.
“I liked the effort today – it was a good bounce-back from a miserable weekend this past weekend,” Shields said. “We came to play. We had focus and we showed an attitude – that’s good. That’s what you have to have in baseball.”
Bridgeport has been the top-ranked team all season out of Class AA in the MetroNews baseball poll as the Indians are going for a fifth consecutive state tittle with postseason play beginning next week.
“We have to take care of ourselves right now,” Shields said. “It’s business that we have to keep getting better and strive to get better. We can’t be content. Nobody is good enough on this team to not try to be better.”
Kiefer was 2 for 3 at the plate with three runs scored, while Nick Stalnaker went 3 for 5 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Evan Ogden had a bases-clearing double in the fifth — part of six runs the Indians scored in the inning.
Ian Fairly and Connor Neal both had two hits apiece for Fairmont Senior, but the Polar Bears (13-5) defensively committed five errors in the loss.