WEST UNION, W.Va. — Class AA No. 3 Doddridge County twice squandered prime scoring opportunities with the bases loaded and one out over the first three innings of Tuesday’s contest against No. 8 South Harrison.
Once the Bulldogs broke through in the fourth, they had no intent on looking back.
Doddridge totaled seven consecutive hits in what became a seven-run fourth, allowing the Bulldogs to take control and claim an 11-1 win in six innings.
With the game scoreless entering the bottom of the fourth, the Hawks (12-4) committed their lone error of the matchup, allowing Malachi Kelley, the leadoff hitter in that inning, to reach.
Two batters later, the Bulldogs (13-3) got the key hit they’d been seeking throughout the evening — a ground rule double to right-center from Hunter Hayhurst that enabled Kelley to score the first run.
“Hunter Hayhurst, with that double, broke it open for us,” Bulldogs’ coach Nate Wright said. “We didn’t get big hits early in the game and left the bases loaded there twice early on. I talked to the guys about having a little bit of a different approach. Let’s be aggressive, put the ball in play and see what happens. Hunter comes up and the first pitch right off the bat, he hits a double and then the bats came alive. “
That marked the end of the outing for South Harrison starting pitcher Jacob Watts, who struggled with his command at times, but held the Bulldogs in check while on a limited pitch count.
“With a big and busy week of games, I wanted him to be able to come back later in the week, so his pitch count was at 75,” Hawks’ coach Frank Tate said. “He wasn’t getting ahead of batters. I think I took him out at 74.”
On came Cohen Wilfong, and he immediately surrendered a run-scoring single to Josh DeHaven that allowed Doddridge to double its lead.
Back to the top of the order at that point, Brody Brockleman belted a ground rule double to put two in scoring position, and Maxwell Nicholson soon singled after to score DeHaven and make it 3-0.
When Caleb Hall followed with Doddridge’s third ground rule double of the frame, it made it 4-0, and that advantage grew to six soon after with a two-run double from Luke Rokisky.
Dayne Murphy’s single scored Rokisky for the seventh run on what marked the Bulldogs’ seventh straight hit.
“Once one guy sees another guy hit it just kind of follows after that,” Wright said. “These guys can all do it one through nine, so that was big for us.”
That was plenty of offense for Hall. The left-hander held South Harrison at bay throughout, finishing with 10 strikeouts and five hits allowed.
“We’ve been progressively getting there with his pitch count,” Wright said. “We only have two games this week. He was ready to go the distance. Caleb’s our guy. He’s a senior leader and he’s a dog and that’s what he does on the mound for us.”
Brockleman’s run-scoring double in the fifth made it 8-0, before the Hawks produced their lone run in the sixth courtesy of Zane Harlow’s single to left that brought in courtesy runner Lucas Nutt.
In the bottom of that inning, however, DCHS ended the game early on the 10-run mercy rule by scoring three times.
The first came on Murphy’s home run that easily cleared the left field fence, before Hawks’ relief pitcher Madden Maxwell began to struggle with his command. Maxwell walked consecutive batters, hit the next one, then forced in a run by walking DeHaven.
A wild pitch followed, allowing Tristan Swiger to score his team’s 11th and final run.
“It’s not like we booted the ball around. They hit the baseball and got that ball up into the jet stream where it keeps carrying and carrying,” Tate said of the windy conditions. “Give them a lot of credit. Caleb threw a great game, they hit the baseball and beat us.”
SHHS stranded two in the top of the first inning, which featured a double from Brogan Medina that came directly after a double play.
The Bulldogs loaded the bases with one out in their first at bat, but failed to score when Watts got Rokisky to bounce into a double play to shortstop.
Doddridge had another prime opportunity to strike first in the third when it again loaded the bases with one out, but Watts struck out Rokisky and Murphy to keep it scoreless at that point.
DCHS continued to give itself strong scoring chances and seized control in the next inning in what marked the Bulldogs’ first game back home after dropping three of four in Myrtle Beach.
“We’re kind of learning on the fly, but there are things that we know we need to work on this week, and that’s kind of what we’re doing,” Wright said.
The Bulldogs finished with 10 hits.
Watts took the loss. He went 3.1 innings and was charged with two runs on two hits. He walked and struck out four.
Wilfong did not record an out while facing six batters, before Maxwell threw two frames.