TENNERTON, W.Va. — Grafton was in a precarious position, having led by six runs two innings earlier only to see Buckhannon-Upshur bring the winning run to the plate in the home half of the seventh inning.
Bearcats’ coach John Gouzd called on Carter Gillespie for what he hoped would be a one-out save.
That’s exactly what Gillespie delivered by dropping in a curveball to strikeout Gavin Moody and finish off Grafton’s 8-7 victory over the Class AAAA No. 9 Buccaneers.
“We always talk about him having a slow heartbeat, and in situations, he’s the guy we always want, because he’s calm and cool under pressure,” Gouzd said.
The Bearcats (12-5) carried an 8-6 lead into the seventh, and the Buccaneers (9-5) got a leadoff single from Jacob Frye, before JW Nestor retired the next two batters.
However, when Alex Wamsley singled to center, Frye scored from second, and B-U had the tying run on base.
That’s when Gillespie toed the rubber and got ahead of Moody 0-2 before dropping in a knee-buckling bender to seal the deal.
FINAL: Grafton 8, Buckhannon-Upshur 7
Bearcats (12-5) hung on for victory after leading by 5 runs in 6th inning.
Gillespie recorded a one out save to finish off the win.
Bucs fall to 9-5.#wvprepbase pic.twitter.com/XVmqoRJ7ID
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) April 20, 2026
It was a rather unusual game almost from start-to-finish, including Grafton’s three-run first inning without putting the ball in play.
The Bearcats batted around in their first trip to the plate, drawing three walks, getting hit by pitch three times and striking out three times against hard-throwing B-U right-hander Jerin Westfall.
“I’m proud of the resiliency and the way we bounced back, but we have to come out better on the mound early,” B-U coach Adam Squires said. “You can’t be all or nothing.”
The second and third Bearcat runs scored when Caleb Wilfong drew a walk and Jacob Moats was hit by a pitch, before GHS left the bases loaded.
“This game was not for a baseball purist to watch and enjoy,” Gouzd said. “It featured a lot of walks and hit by pitch, but sometimes it happens. I applaud our guys. Westfall is pumping and our guys are wearing it off elbows and hips and for them to continue to get back in there and have aggressive at bats and look for good pitches is good with a guy who was all over the place today.”
B-U had runners at the corners with one out in its first trip to the plate, but Bearcats’ starting pitcher Grant Murphy picked off a runner to help himself escape unscathed.
The Bucs got on the scoreboard in the second when Wamsley singled with two outs to plate Dawson Tenney, who had doubled an at bat earlier.
Nestor’s double to right in the third drove in a run, though a potential second was thrown out at the plate on the play and Grafton settled for a 4-1 lead.
Brody McDaniels’ double to right-center scored Westfall in the third and allowed B-U to get to back to within two, but any momentum was short-lived as Grafton loaded the bases to start the fourth courtesy of two walks sandwiched around Chace Kinsey’s double.
That marked the end of the day for Westfall, who walked eight and recorded four of his nine outs via strikeout.
On came Clay Lantz, and after issuing a walk to John Gouzd that forced in a run, Wilfong brought in two with a single.
Gouzd crossed the plate with his team’s fourth run of the frame when Lantz threw to first to check on a runner, leaving the visitors with the 8-2 advantage that marked the largest lead of the game.
B-U put two runners on start the fourth, but had its rally attempt thwarted when Murphy picked off his third runner of the outing.
“He has a good move and I’ll give him that, but the only time you can get picked off is if you’re stealing,” Squires said. “We were never stealing in those situations, so we have to be smarter on the bases. That’s three runners you take off the base paths and that’s tough.”
Gouzd was elated to see something his team has spent a lot of time on pay off.
“We pride ourselves on our ability to pick off runners and control the running game,” Gouzd said. “We spend a lot of time working on it and it really showed today. We picked three kids off and that’s a big swing.”
Frye’s double in the fifth drove in a run to make it 8-3, the Bucs left two in scoring position that inning.
B-U made it a tight contest in the sixth starting with a Weldon Zirkle single that scored a run, while Lantz followed with a double to plate another, and a second scored on that play as a result of an error during the relay.
Lantz also held the Bearcats at bay by throwing scoreless fifth, sixth and seventh innings that gave his team the opportunity to rally. He allowed one run on three hits with a pair of strikeouts and one walk over four innings.
“When we saw the change of speed that came in, I don’t know that we adjusted as well as we needed to,” Gouzd said. “I felt like at 8-2, add a couple runs and you really put that thing away. Not being able to do anything in the fifth and sixth allowed them to hang around and then we have a ball game all the way down the stretch.”
Grafton finished with six hits and nine walks.
Murphy allowed three runs over five innings. He stuck out eight and walked three.
B-U totaled 12 hits, including two apiece from Zerkle, McDaniels, Frye and Wamsley.