HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Three outs from elimination, top-seeded Bridgeport used a pair of productive outs to advance to the Class AAA semifinal round with a 3-2 win over No. 8 East Fairmont.
Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh, the Indians (31-4) used an RBI groundout from Jax McNally and a sacrifice fly from Guy Avolio to score Aidan Dunn and Luke Rohrig, respectively.
“Hats off to East Fairmont. They have always played us tough the last four years. Joe [Price] does a heck of a job with them. He knew we had to be patient. We live to play another day,” said Bridgeport head coach Robert Shields.
“It took a long time. I just didn’t think we had a good approach at the plate. We were pulling too many balls. They played great defense.”
East Fairmont (22-11) had a pair of leads in the game. The Bees used an RBI double from River McClain in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. In the sixth, Owen Music scored on a wild pitch, putting East back on top, 2-1. Anthony Julian’s RBI single for the Indians in the fourth inning evened the score at 1.
Bridgeport’s Owen Sondericker went the distance on the hill. He allowed just two hits and struck out six batters while walking only one.
“Owen has been lights out all year long. Sometimes he pitches too good. He is around the zone a lot. Sometimes that hurts him. But hats off to him. He did a great job. He is a workhorse. He is going to give you that effort every time.”
Rohrig and Cole Arnett each had two hits for the Indians. Joseph Schnore pitched into the seventh inning for the Bees.
Bridgeport will have two days off before facing the winner of the Spring Valley-Ripley matchup in the first Class AAA semifinal, Friday at 10 a.m.
“That’s what we primed them and prepped them for. We’ve got several [pitchers] left. We’ll just make a decision to see who comes out on top of the next one and try to get ready. You get two days of practice somewhere and work on some things and do whatever we can to keep simulating live situations. This should be a big wakeup call. East Fairmont had us. That’s why you play 21 outs and that’s what I was preaching to them.”