FREDERICK, Md. – The West Virginia Black Bears dropped the final game to the Frederick Keys 6-4, losing the series after Friday’s loss and Saturday’s cancellation due to rain. After leading for seven innings, Frederick rallied for five runs in the bottom of the eighth to take the win from West Virginia.
With the extra rest from Saturday’s cancellation, the Black Bears’ bats came out hot, striking with a run in the first. Alex Vergara made it home after leading off with a double, rounding third the next at-bat on a single from J.T. Marr. A double play took Marr off the base paths, and a groundout from Trace Willhoite stopped the Bears from causing more damage.
Two and a half scoreless innings kept West Virginia ahead by one. Starting pitcher Aric McAtee delivered three empty frames, stranding Brody Fahr on base in the first and retiring six batters in order through the second and third.
West Virginia took a three-run lead in the top of the fourth. A lead-off home run from Willhoite set the tone for the inning. T.J. Williams singled on a line drive to right, advancing to second on a Connor McGuire groundout. Stealing third, Williams got into prime scoring position, coming home on a fielding error by second baseman Fahr. With catcher Dayne Leonard on base after the error, a hard-hit line drive from Chris Einemann put Bears on the corners. After Einemann stole second, a pitch clock violation loaded the bases with Vergara on first. However, Keys’ starter Jake Curtis emptied them with the strikeout of Marr.
Frederick got one run back in the bottom of the inning. Fahr took his base after a four-pitch walk, stealing second to get into scoring position. McAtee picked up a strikeout, but a Michael Campagna single the next at-bat scored Fahr to cut the lead to two. The Bears secured the last two outs to head into the fifth ahead 3-1.
West Virginia added a run in the seventh. The Bears loaded the bases with a single from Marr, a double from Jack O’Dowd, and the intentional walk of Willhoite. With no outs on the board, a ball popped up by Jeff Liquori gave Marr enough time to make it home for the Bears’ fourth run. Joe Miceli pulled together two strikeouts to end the inning, but not before West Virginia re-took its three-run lead.
The momentum shifted drastically in the bottom of the eighth as seven Keys’ players reached base to go ahead by two. Conner Mackay took the mound for reliever Noah Manning to start the inning. Mackay gave up three consecutive hits to Tremayne Cobb Jr., Fahr and Brandon Hylton to score one. The walk of Campagna juiced the bases, and a ground ball fielded by O’Dowd brought in Fahr. With the bases still full of Keys, two more hits brought in as many runs as Keenan Taylor and Elijah Dickerson picked up RBI singles. Bears’ closer Jack Maruskin was sent in for Mackay after recording no outs. Maruskin put away Darryl Buggs, but a ball caught at the wall by Williams gave Damone Hale an RBI sac-fly. Cobb grounded out on his second turn at bat in the frame, and West Virginia finally ended the long inning trailing 6-4.
A feeble attempt at a comeback in the ninth yielded no results. Liquori notched a base hit and pushed to second on a wild pitch by Jay Allmer, but McGuire struck out swinging to end the game.
Despite the dramatic loss, West Virginia’s Trace Willhoite continued to shine with his second official home run of the series. Willhoite, who hit a home run in Saturday’s game before it was cancelled due to inclement weather, leads the MLB Draft League in home runs with eight on the season. J.T. Marr and Jeff Liquori both recorded two hits in five at-bats and one RBI, with Marr scoring one run in the seventh.
Aric McAtee had a turnaround performance after struggling through his last start at home, also against Frederick. Through 5.2 innings pitched, McAtee allowed one run on four hits with seven strikeouts. Sayer Diederich and Noah Manning collectively finished 1.1 innings with no runs, and Connor Mackay was credited with the loss after giving up four in the eighth. Jack Maruskin picked up all three outs for Mackay, ending the inning after punching out one with one earned run.
Ironically, two former Black Bears led the Keys to victory. Brody Fahr, a member of the 2023 team, went two-for-three with two runs scored, while 2022 Black Bear Keenan Taylor recorded three hits in four at-bats. Taylor, a member of the first-half team under former manager Jedd Gyorko, drove in the tying run in the eighth.
West Virginia returns to Kendrick Family Ballpark on Monday for the final series of the 2024 season. The Bears take on the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in a three-game series September 2-4, with all game times set for 6:30 p.m.
