
GRANVILLE, W.Va. — The West Virginia Black Bears and the Trenton Thunder battled it out in Sunday's rubber match at Kendrick Family Ballpark, with the Thunder snatching game three and the series with a final score of 7-3. After Saturday night’s 12-8 loss, the Bears looked to rebound on Sunday afternoon, but the Thunder defense proved too much for them to overcome.
Trenton hit the ground running in the top of the game, starting off with a triple from lead-off batter Chase Engelhard. Anthony Abbatine followed suit with a single that brought in Engelhard for the first run of the game. With Santino Rosso taking first after a walk and a wild pitch by Bears’ starter Aric McAtee, Abbatine and Rosso advanced, setting up Hunter Dorraugh for an RBI opportunity – grounding out but sending in Abbatine. Jack O’Reilly continued the trend, striking a sac-fly to right fielder Jeff Liquori to score Rosso, putting Trenton up 3-0.
The Bears answered quickly in the bottom of the inning after Jack O’Dowd took first on a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch from Trenton’s Sonny Fauci. Continuing his hard-hitting trend, Alex Vergara recorded a stand-up double on a line drive deep to left field to bring O’Dowd home.
Led by McAtee, West Virginia’s defense held Trenton scoreless in the second and third innings, with the Stetson graduate throwing two strikeouts.
West Virginia pulled within one run in the bottom of the third. A single from TJ Williams followed by a steal put him in scoring position. Kasten Furr brought home Williams on another single to close the deficit to 3-2. Vergara smacked a line drive to center field for a base hit hoping to drive in Furr, but he was tagged out at home by catcher Joaquin Monque.
Pete Durocher hit a solo homer 362 feet over, beyond Trenton’s bullpen, to give the Thunder a 4-2 lead.
Trenton’s offense couldn’t be stopped in the top of the fifth as they added another run to the tally. With Jakob Simons stealing second and third after being walked, Engelhard sent him home to go up by three.
Attempting a comeback, West Virginia plated another run in the eighth. With Dan Kristis relieving Fauci, O’Dowd lined a single to right field. The Bears loaded the bases in time for Trace Willhoite to record an RBI, scoring O’Dowd to cut Trenton’s lead to two.
However, the Thunder continued to roll into the ninth, collecting two more insurance runs. With a walked Joaquin Monque on first, Battipaglia tripled on a line drive to right field to send Monque home. The Bears’ Jack Maruskin threw a wild pitch that allowed Battipaglia time to score the seventh and final run. After an uneventful home half, West Virginia ended the game with a loss.
Although the Bears ended the day with ten hits – two more than the Thunder – only three translated into runs. Kasten Furr and Alex Vergara led the pack with three and two hits respectively, also recording the lone RBIs of the game for West Virginia. Starter Aric McAtee accounted for all five strikeouts for the Bears in his 4.2 innings pitched.
Trenton’s Sonny Fauci held the Black Bears to two runs with 11strikeouts across his seven innings pitched. Shortstop Chase Engelhard went two-for-five with one hit and one RBI.
With the loss, West Virginia sits in second place in the MLB Draft League, tied with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers and the State College Spikes at 5-5.
The Black Bears travel to Niles, Ohio, to face the Scrappers for a three-game series starting Monday evening, with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. West Virginia returns to play the Williamsport Crosscutters for two games beginning on Thursday, August 1.