GRANVILLE, W.Va. – In a rain delayed game Friday evening, the West Virginia Black Bears fell to the Frederick Keys 7-5 at Monongalia County Ballpark. Fresh off a series win against Mahoning Valley, the Black Bears looked to continue their momentum in game one against the Keys.
Things got off to a quick start for West Virginia in the bottom of the first. Turner Hill got things started with a single for West Virginia. A few at-bats later, 1B Logan Mathieu sent LF Ruben Fontes home with a sacrifice fly to give West Virginia a 1-0 lead.
Defensively, the Black Bears began the game strong, led by starting pitcher Zach Bravo’s four strikeouts through the first two innings of play.
In the bottom of the second, West Virginia continued to make solid contact with the ball. Tremaine Spears got the inning started with a single before stealing second base. After two consecutive at-bats with no hits, the Black Bears increased their lead to 3-0 in the next two attempts. A deep shot from SS Anthony Stehlin drove home Spears. The next at-bat, CF Turner Hill launched deep shot into center field, driving Stehlin home before Hill was tagged out at second base.
Unfortunately, the defensive momentum for the Black Bears came to a halt in the third inning. The inning began with two quick outs from the West Virginia defense, but things quickly turned in favor of the Keys, with three runs coming in to tie the game at 3-3.
In the top of the fourth inning, West Virginia was unable to hemorrhage the damage as three more runs from Frederick came in against Bravo to give them a 6-3 lead.
The Black Bears finally got back on the scoring side of things in the bottom of the fifth. A shot from Stehlin snuck past the shortstop and resulted in a single. Later in the inning, with Stehlin in scoring position, a fumbled exchange from the Keys catcher allowed Stehlin to reach home and gave the Bears their first run in three innings.
The Keys continued to hold the Bears off the bases through the sixth and seventh innings and were able to drive in a run in the top of the eighth to increase their lead to 7-4.
After a scoreless inning for West Virginia in the bottom of the eighth, the Bears entered the home half of the ninth looking for a rally.
West Virginia put themselves in the position to make some noise in the bottom of the ninth. With one out, 2B Jovante Dorris cranked a shot to second base and drove a runner home. With MLB Draft League Home Run leader Ryan Hernandez stepping to the plate with two outs, the slugger sent a shot down the left field line, resulting in a double for the Black Bears. With runners on second and third, West Virginia had one final chance to rally. Turner Hill made contact with the ball but was ultimately thrown out at first to end the game.
The Black Bears look to rebound in game two of the series against the Keys on Saturday evening at The Mon. First pitch for the second game is set for 7:05 p.m.
