FREDERICK, MD – In a striking turn of events, the West Virginia Black Bears defeated the Frederick Keys 8-5 on Friday night at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium for their first road win of the season. Sam Antonacci led the West Virginia offensive, tallying four hits in five tries and driving in two runs to lift the Bears over the Keys in game one of the three-game series.
In a season-high performance, West Virginia stole 13 bases, more than doubling its total from the first 12 games. The team came into Friday’s game ranked last in the MLB Draft League in stolen bases. Blaze Brothers stole a game-high four bases followed by Antonacci who stole three.
Antonacci opened the scoring in the top of the first inning after stealing two bases. The shortstop scored following a steal of third thanks to an error on Keys’ catcher Carlos Guzman. A single from Brothers plated 1B Ryan McCoy to give the Black Bears a 2-0 lead.
West Virginia did not stop there. Second baseman Savier Pinales ripped an RBI triple into the right field corner scoring Gehrig Anglin in the top of the second inning. Antonacci added another Black Bear run, driving in Pinales from third with an RBI single to bring the score to 4-0 heading into the home half of the inning.
The Keys responded in the bottom of the second with two runs to cut the Bears lead to two. However, those were the only blemishes on starting pitcher Cédric de Grandpré’s night. The right-handed pitcher from Québec tossed four innings, allowing only one earned run on three hits, walking two and striking out six.
The Black Bears added to their lead in the sixth inning. Catcher Hunter May launched a towering home run to left field, bringing the score to 5-2. Later in the sixth, DH Mauricio Millan stole third base and scored on another error by Guzman. Antonacci continued his strong night notching another RBI single that extended the West Virginia lead to 7-2.
Frederick added a run in the bottom of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings on a Dominic Freeberger RBI groundout, Logan Sanders RBI double and Harold Coll RBI single, respectively, but it was not enough to overcome the power of the Bears offense.
Hunter May capped off his record night with his second homer of the game in the top of the ninth, along with throwing out three total runners from behind the plate. NCBWA All-American Trey Braithwaite slammed the door shut in the bottom of the ninth inning, striking out the side and picking up the save for the Bears.
With the win, West Virginia is now 3-10 on the season, and looks to take its first road series tomorrow, against Frederick. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m.
