GRANVILLE, W.Va. – The West Virginia Black Bears beat the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in a marathon game that ended in a 12-12 tie after nine innings on Tuesday evening. After four hours and a combined 33 hits, the Black Bears won in sudden death on a walk-off base hit from Jeff Liquori.
The Scrappers jumped ahead to an early lead with two runs in the first. Bears’ starter Brenton Thiels struggled to get hot, walking two and allowing Dreylin Holmes to reach on a throwing error to first. With the bases loaded, Thiels walked Chang-Yong Lee to score Jake Allgeyer. Third baseman Drew Holderbach grounded into a double play, but in the process, brought in Holmes for the second run.
West Virginia responded with force in the bottom of the inning. A lead-off single from T.J. Williams followed by a base hit from J.T. Marr put Bears on the corners. Jack O’Dowd drove in Williams on a ground-rule double that hopped the right field wall. A walk of Alex Vergara juiced the bases, and a wild pitch from Scrappers’ starter Joey Butz sent Marr on a trip home to tie. Kendal Ewell gave West Virginia the lead on an RBI double that scored O’Dowd and Vergara. After a mound visit, Chris Einemann roped a single on the second offering from Butz to bring home Ewell for a three-run lead. The top of the order returned to the plate with Williams recording his second single of the inning – this time, driving in Grabosch for the final run of the first.
Facing a four-run deficit, Mahoning Valley came out swinging in the second frame. Zach Ketterman doubled on a line drive to center field before making it home on an RBI single from Allgeyer. A stolen base put Allgeyer in scoring position, and a base hit from Holmes brought him home. The next at-bat, Holmes scored on a fielding error by shortstop Chris Einemann. Thiels ended the Scrappers’ threat with a strikeout, but not before they cut the lead to 6-5.
The scoring continued into the home half of the inning as the Black Bears added a run on a Vergara single that plated Marr. Heading into the third, West Virginia led by two.
Thiels and the defense held Mahoning Valley scoreless in the third, picking up two quick outs before striking out Ketterman to erase a base runner. The Bears added to their lead in the bottom of the inning with a double from Jeff Liquori followed by an RBI double off the bat of catcher Ryan Grabosch.
Mahoning Valley continued to whittle away at the lead in the fourth as a single from Holderbach scored Holmes and Kota Suzuki.
A.J. Stinson took the mound for Thiels to start the fifth. Though Stinson loaded the bases, the Bears worked out of the jam to retain the lead. West Virginia went down in order for the first time in the game to send it to the sixth.
But the Scrappers fought back to go up by one in the top of the inning. Lee scored on a single from Tsukada before manager David Carpenter sent in reliever Will Carsten for Stinson. A double steal put Tsukada on third, and a single from center fielder Isaac Williams plated him for the lead. Carsten pulled together two strikeouts to limit the damage, but Mahoning Valley surged ahead for the 9-8 lead.
Determined to win the game, the Back Bears tied it in the bottom of the sixth and went ahead in the seventh. A single from Kasten Furr scored Williams to tie the game at nine. The next inning, Liquori and Grabosch repeated their third-inning performance with two doubles that scored Liquori as the go-ahead run. Grabosch came home on a wild pitch from Ethan Bell that rolled to the backstop to give West Virginia a two-run lead.
The Black Bears added an insurance run in the eighth on a double from Vergara that scored Marr. A walk of Liquori loaded the bases, but the Scrappers ended the inning before sustaining more damage.
Refusing to go quietly after a marathon game, Mahoning Valley scrapped back to tie the game with three runs in the ninth. A double from Holmes drove in Allgeyer before a sac-fly from Tsukada plated Holmes. The tying run came across on an RBI single from Williams, knotting the game at 12.
The final home half went quickly as the Black Bears were retired in order, sending the game into sudden death. Opting to bat, West Virginia headed to the plate with Marr on first. O’Dowd picked up a lead-off single, advancing Marr to third on a hard-hit ball through the gap. With Bears on the corners, the Scrappers walked Vergara to load the bases. Then with one well-placed ball, Liquori walked it off with a base hit to right field.
On an intensely productive night for the offense, the Black Bears totaled 17 hits. Jack O’Dowd went an impressive four-for-five at the plate with two doubles, scoring a run and tallying one RBI. T.J. Williams recorded a pair of hits in four appearances with two runs and an RBI, while Alex Vergara and Ryan Grabosch each picked up two hits and two RBI. Jeff Liquori, who plated the winning run in sudden death, ended the game two-for-four with two runs scored.
For Mahoning Valley, Jake Allgeyer went a perfect five-for-five at the dish, scoring three runs and notching an RBI. Outfielder Dreylin Holmes recorded three hits with two RBI and four of the Scrappers’ 12 runs.
With the win, West Virginia sits 3.5 games behind the first-place Trenton Thunder, still battling for a spot in the championship game with 14 games remaining. The Black Bears return to Kendrick Family Ballpark for the second game of the three-game set against the Scrappers on Wednesday evening. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.
