GRANVILLE, W.Va. – The West Virginia Black Bears won the first game of their three-game set against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in sudden death at Kendrick Family Ballpark. After rallying to tie the game at five in the eighth, Cayden Gaskin walked it off with a single up the middle for their first win in four games.
Left-handed pitcher Hunter Holzemer took the mound on Sunday afternoon in his ninth and final start for the Black Bears. The full-season standout allowed three hits but surrendered no runs through the first two innings.
The Bears struck first in the bottom of the second after an errant throw from Tervell Johnson sailed past first to bring home Owen Petrich.
Holzemer held the lead for West Virginia, striking out three more through the fifth to send the Bears back to the plate. Cayden Gaskin’s lead-off triple and a double from Kevin Jones added a run to the board. The walk of Ben Barrett and a single from Ian Collier scored Jones, leaving runners on the corners. A ground ball hit up the middle by Petrich ended in a double play but not before Barrett scored to go ahead 4-0.
Mahoning Valley finally showed signs of life with three runs in the sixth. Davis Mauzy’s single to left field scored Johnson for the first Scrappers’ run, and a line drive fielded by Jackson Trout brought home Mauzy and Jayden Hylton.
The Scrappers tied the game in the top of the seventh as Mauzy recorded another RBI single that scored Maddox Mihalakis. A ground ball to right brought home Mauzy to give Mahoning Valley a 5-4 lead.
West Virginia rallied in the eighth to tie the game at five. Aggressive on the base paths, Gaskin stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by Scrappers’ catcher Mike Young. A single from Jones scored Gaskin to knot the game heading into the final frame.
A scoreless ninth sent the teams into sudden death with the Black Bears electing for offense. With Nick Anello on the bump and Tyvon Moore on first, the Bears put a runner in scoring position after Noah Jouras was struck by a pitch. The four-ball walk of Elijah Cook loaded the bases for Gaskin with no outs. Gaskin’s hard-hit liner up the middle could not be fielded by the shortstop, plating Moore for the walk-off win.
Kevin Jones and Ben Barrett led the West Virginia offense with two hits each. Jones finished 2-for-4 with one run and two RBI, including the RBI single that tied the game in the eighth. Barrett went 2-for-3 with two walks and one run scored.
Hunter Holzemer ended his last outing for the Bears with two runs on seven hits through 5.0 innings pitched. Holzemer added four strikeouts to his season total, finishing with a 3.82 ERA. Reilly Shafer kept the game within one through the eighth and held the tie in the final frame, ending the night with three strikeouts through 2.0 innings.
West Virginia returns for the penultimate game of the season on Monday, August 31, at Kendrick Family Ballpark. First pitch for the second game against the Scrappers is set for 6:00 p.m.
