No. 1 Bridgeport beats East Fairmont in top 10 matchup

FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Class AA No. 1 Bridgeport jumped out to an early 8-1 lead and went on for an 11-5 win over No. 7 East Fairmont on Wednesday night in a top 10 matchup.

“I thought we had some good, hard hits today and executed some nice bunts, moving people into scoring position and then got a hit after that to get some runs in,” said Bridgeport coach Robert Shields. “I wanted to get ahead of them early. It was a good thing we did get ahead early – we sure needed the runs the way we walked people.”

The Indians overcame surrendering nine walks and two hit-by-pitches on the night.

Bridgeport scored two runs in the first inning, coming on a single from Brayden Lesher, who ended up scoring on the play after an error in right field.

Two hit-batters, an error and three Bridgeport hits in the top of the second brought in six more runs for the Indians for that 8-1 lead.

Koby Kiefer led Bridgeport at the plate, going 2 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs scored.

Lesher finished 2 for 5 with two runs scored in the win as well.

Nate Cole got the start for Bridgeport on the mound and Chapin Murphy entered in the fourth to shutdown an East Fairmont rally, as the Bees had closed their deficit to 8-4.

“That’s Chapin’s second time on the mound and I thought he did a better job,” Shields said. “He’s a gutty kid. We have to find his exact role – do I make him a starter? Do I make him a middle guy if we’re in trouble? I have to figure that out. We just need to play more games.”

The win improved Bridgeport to 5-0 on the young season as the Indians are looking for a fifth straight Class AA state championship.

With several new faces in the lineup, the overall feel on this year’s group is still coming together.

“It’s way too early,” Shields said. “There are so many things I could pinpoint, but right now we’re winning and sometimes that cures everything.

“There are some definite weaknesses that I know we can improve on,” he continued. “It takes a whole group effort. These kids really get along and are bonding together, but we have to clean up some things.”

Jaden Kuroski went 1 for 3 with a run scored in the loss for East Fairmont (8-2), which had its eight-game winning streak snapped.