PHILIPPI, W.Va. — Philip Barbour didn’t play up to its expectations for long stretches of the regular season.
That hardly matters now, and if Monday is any indication, the Colts have put the ups and downs of the last two months behind them.
Robbie Jones struck out seven of five dominant innings and the Colts scored in four of five trips to the plate, including a six spot in the home half of the fifth to finish off the Yellow Jackets in a Class AA Region II postseason opener, 10-0.
“We preach to the guys to give your best effort, focus and compete every pitch, and we’ll live with the results as long as we’re doing that,” PB coach Jonathon Carpenter said. “If we’re not doing that, you get into an area of well what if we did this or that, and we don’t want to be in that scenario.”
A No. 4 seed in the region, the Colts (15-12) got a clean first inning from Jones, who struck out the first two Moorefield (13-11) batters he faced.
The Colts gained a 1-0 lead in the first after Kale Wolfe got to third with no outs and came home on Anthony Mosesso’s two-out single.
No. 5 seed Moorefield had a quality scoring opportunity in the second after two of its first three batters singled that inning, but Jones struck out the next two to give him five punch outs through two frames.
A strikeout of Kail Greenwalt to start the top of the third made it six strikeouts for Jones his first time through the MHS lineup.
“He’s got a fastball that’s sneaky quick,” Carpenter said. “He has such a smooth delivery and the next thing you know, the ball is on you. He’s able to complement that with a nice big, breaking 12-to-6 curveball, so if you’re geared up for the fastball, timing can become an issue.”
PBHS put together a two-out rally in the home half of the third against MHS starting pitcher Matthew Iman to take control. It began with Mosesso’s walk and after Kent Rowan doubled to right to put two in scoring position, Slaton Harris delivered a pivotal single to right to plate two for a 3-0 lead.
“Iman is good and his stuff runs all over the place,” Carpenter said. “You have to simplify your approach with him and the boys did a good job of that.”
Ollie Crites accounted for a leadoff double in the top of the fourth, but never advanced past second as Jones retired the next three batters on a pair of ground balls with a pop up sandwiched in between.
Landyn Carpenter’s two-out single in the fourth scored Keegan Wolfe and left the Yellow Jackets with a four-run deficit.
PB then displayed patience aplenty throughout the fifth, which began with Jones being hit by a pitch and Mosesso following with a single that was misplayed.
At that point, Iman was lifted for Ed Metheny.
Metheny was greeted by Rowan’s run-scoring single, and after Harris worked a walk, Parker Fincham followed with a two-run single to make it 7-0.
Later in the sixth, with the bases loaded again, Kale Wolfe drew a base-on-balls to bring in the eighth run, and that set the stage for Carpenter to drive in two with a single off Easton Haines that brought the 10-run mercy rule into effect.
Jones allowed three hits and issued one walk.
Carpenter, Mosesso and Rowan had two hits apiece to lead the Colts’ nine-hit attack.
With the result, Philip Barbour advances to play at No. 1 seed Frankfort on Tuesday in a winner’s bracket contest.
“We have enough pitching that we feel like we could come through the loser’s bracket, but it’s so much more pitcher-friendly if you can stay in the winner’s bracket,” coach Carpenter said.
Iman was charged with six runs on six hits over four innings. He walked four and struck out five.
Moorefield coach Wade Armentrout declined comment postgame.
The Yellow Jackets will look to avoid elimination Tuesday when they welcome No. 8 seed Braxton County.