MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In a game where all of the runs were scored on one play late in the contest, Class AAA No. 1 Bridgeport defeated Class AAAA No. 1 Morgantown, 2-0 at Dale Miller Field. The Indians (26-4) swept the regular season home-and-home series from the Mohigans (21-5).
BHS senior Owen Sondericker and MHS junior Maddox Boggs posted zeroes on the scoreboard through five innings of play before Bridgeport broke the scoreless stalemate. After Kasen Baun walked and Guy Avolio followed with a single, pinch hitter Blake Butcher was called upon in a sacrifice bunt situation. He fouled off the first pitch before laying down a bunt that allowed him to reach on a single, loading the bases with nobody out.
“That was beautiful,” said Bridgeport head coach Robert Shields. “We work on that. Blake is, most of the time, a pitcher only. But Blake is an athlete. I asked him before, ‘If we get in that situation, you’re going to be ready, go get ready’. He said, ‘I’ve got you coach. I’ve got you coach’.”
The Indians took advantage as No. 7 batter Anthony Julian doubled down the left field line, scoring the game’s lone runs.
“He has been swinging the bat well all year. Today, he had good contact on the ball.”
Sondericker worked through the sixth and seventh innings to finish off a 1-hit shutout. Morgantown brought the potential winning run to the plate in the seventh before Sondericker induced a grounder to end the game. Sondericker walked four batters and struck out six.
“I am just pleased with how he performed. After that first inning where he threw 28 pitches, after that, he locked in and he did a great job.”
Aside from a fielding error in the seventh inning, Bridgeport played solid defense behind Sondericker. Baun made two sliding putouts at shortstop and the Indians ended the sixth inning with a double play.
“Anthony Julian played a great third base. Guy Avolio made that throw from Owen that was hit back to the pitcher, he made a great play right there tagging [Lincoln] Thornton out.”
Boggs pitched 6.2 innings for the Mohigans. He walked two batters and struck out seven. Bean Nipper had Morgantown’s lone hit, an infield single in the first inning.
Sondericker, Avolio and Julian each had two hits for the Indians.
Bridgeport has two regular season games remaining — Thursday against Lincoln and next week against North Marion.
“Overall, there are things we can clean up next week with only having one game. But I am very pleased and the execution is a lot better now than it was at the beginning of the year. That bodes well for us heading into tournament play.”
Prior to the game, Morgantown head coach Pat Sherald presented Shields with a commemorative baseball in honor of his 1,000th career victory that came on Tuesday.