GRANVILLE, W.Va. - In a rain-shortened game at Monongalia County Ballpark, the West Virginia Black Bears lost game four to the Frederick Keys by a score of 10-2 on a gloomy Sunday afternoon. With the loss, the Bears split the series with the Keys after winning games two and three.
A rain delay pushed first pitch back 45 minutes before starter Rhian Mann took the mound for West Virginia. The right-handed pitcher from Gwinnett College, Georgia, retired three of four batters in the top of the first with one strikeout.
In the second inning, Frederick hopped on the board with a single from 1B Alex Baeza that drove in 3B Jake Plastiak. Another RBI single to right field from 2B Tyrese Clayborne scored Baeza two plays later, and the Keys took a 2-0 lead heading into the home half of the inning.
After another scoreless frame for the Bears, the Keys put up eight runs in the top of the third to take a commanding 10-0 lead. After a single and a fielding error by 3B Tremaine Spears put LF Hunter Jump in scoring position, a single from C Trevor Johnson scored Jump for the first run of the inning. With the bases loaded, a wild pitch from Mann advanced the runners and brought home SS Evan Berkey. Another single from Baeza scored Johnson to give the Keys a six-run lead. Frederick put two more runs on the board following a fielder’s choice that brought home Baeza, and Jump’s second single of the inning scored RF Tre’von Smith.
A pitching change for the Bears brought in RHP Brian Williams for Mann with two outs. A triple from Berkey added another run to the Keys’ lead before West Virginia ended the inning with a groundout to first base.
As rain continued to roll into the ballpark, the Black Bears finally got their offense moving in the bottom of the fifth inning. Turner Hill scored on a sacrifice fly from DH Ryan Hernandez for the first West Virginia run of the game. A double off the bat of 1B Logan Mathieu scored Fontes in the next at-bat before a ground out ended the inning. A mound meeting with the umpires and managers Jedd Gyorko and Joe Oliver ended the game after the fifth inning with the Keys on top by a final score of 10-2.
On a slow hitting night for the Bears, Turner Hill continued to pad to his stat line with one hit in two at-bats and one run. The Marietta, Ohio, native has now recorded at least one hit (17 total) in seven of his last nine appearances as a Black Bear with a .486 BA – the highest batting average in the second half of the MLB Draft League.
West Virginia goes on the road to take on the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in a three-game series in Niles, Ohio, beginning Tuesday, August 2, before returning home on Friday, August 5, for another weekend series against the Frederick Keys.
