BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — Sophomore Aidan Dunn went the distance on the hill as Class AAA No. 1 Bridgeport handed Class AAAA No. 2 Morgantown just their third loss of the season, 8-1 in the opening game of their regular season home-and-home series.
Dunn gained steam late in the game, retiring nine of the last eleven batters he faced. He yielded just four hits, walked four and struck out three in a 106-pitch performance.
“We made a couple mistakes early on. He fought through it and I think he threw 50 pitches in the last five innings. Credit to him,” said Bridgeport head coach Robert Shields. “He bulldogged it like we want. He pounded the zone and that helped us a lot.”
Morgantown scored the game’s first run in the second inning when Kane Williams crossed the plate on a wild pitch. Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the third, Bridgeport batters began to work longer counts in the middle innings. Seven batters stepped to the plate in a three-run third inning and nine batted in a four-run fifth inning.
“Their pitcher [Grayson Campbell] threw 14 pitches in [the first] two innings. We didn’t make him work at all. In the third inning, I said, ‘Let’s make him work’,” Shields said.
“We had some plate patience there and I think it was [Anthony] Julian who came up and got the base hit to start it in the third. [Cole] Courtney bunted him over. Then we just rolled it over from there. I think everything kind of fell into place. The kids are doing a great job overall with runners in scoring position with less than two outs and with two outs. We need that to be a good quality ball club.”
Owen Sondericker drove in four of Bridgeport’s eight runs with a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly.
“That role he is playing in the three-hole is excellent. He’s got Kasen [Baun] behind him. With Luke [Rohrig] leading off, he is probably a bit more aggressive as a leadoff hitter, which I can let him do that. Overall, I like the way those kids are finding and helping each other in the lineup.”
Rohrig scored three runs while Jax McNally scored twice. Guy Avolio had two hits and he drove in two runs. Baun, a future Ohio Bobcat, delivered a two-run triple.
Bridgeport has won four consecutive games and 11 of their last 12.
“I kind of thought the kids were gearing towards this. There’s only so many times, other than our weekend games which are packed versus quality clubs, that you feel like, hey can they get up for it in this situation? Today, I thought was one of them.”
Williams, Brayden Gorby, Mason Bowers and Luca Mezzanotte had base hits for Morgantown.
The Indians (16-3) and the Mohigans (15-3) will meet again at Dale Miller Field on May 6.