Williamsport, Pa. – Williamsport plated two runs in the bottom of the 9th, coming up short in their loss to West Virginia.
David Horn Jr. gave the Crosscutters four strong innings in his debut. The Right-Hander out of Middle Tennessee State worked around a first inning run, striking out seven in the loss.
The Black Bears managed to work a lead-off walk from Marcus Bradshaw into the games first run. Bradshaw stole 2nd, advanced on a ground out and scored on a sacrifice fly from Wills Maginnis.
Williamsport threatened to score in the 2nd inning, getting runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. Nate McHugh grounded into a fielder’s choice, resulting in an out at the plate for the 2nd out and then George Malone struck out to end the threat.
Williamsport again had a chance to score in the bottom of the 4th inning, as Chris Stanfield reached 3rd with one out. Brodey Acres lined out to a drawn in shortstop for the 2nd out and Ben Tryon flew out to end the inning.
Chris Guillory took over on the mound for the Crosscutters in the 5th inning and the 18-year-old made an impact, striking out the side on 12 pitches. Guillory tossed three scoreless frames, working around a hit and walk.
West Virginia was able to plate their 2nd run of the night in the top of the 8th inning, doing so on a semi-controversial play. With one out and runners on 1st and 3rd, Hudson Byrd got Wills Maginnis to flyout in foul territory down the right field line.
Owen Prince, made the catch while crashing into the padded side wall, spun and threw a strike to 2nd base, getting the runner trying to tag from 1st. It was the final out of the inning.
However, the runner tagging from third base was determined to have crossed home before the third out was recorded at 2nd base, therefore allowing the run to count and giving the Black Bears a 2-0 lead.
Hudson Byrd came back out in the 9th inning but was forced to exit with an apparent arm injury after walking the first two batters of the inning.
Dallis Moran entered with two on and no outs, striking out the first batter he faced.
Luke Matthews dropped an RBI single into left, giving the Black Bears a 3-0 lead. Moran followed by striking out the next two batters to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 9th, the Crosscutters were able to cross a couple runs, as Ben Tryon plated Chris Stanfield with a runs scoring ground out to make it a 3-1 deficit. It was Tryon’s 2nd RBI of the season.
Brodey Acres later scored on a passed ball, making it a one run game. The game came to close shortly after, as the Cutters rally fell short.
Williamsport looks to salvage the final game of the series tomorrow night against the Black Bears, first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
Cutters Carvings - David Horn Jr struck out six of the last 11 batters he faced… Williamsport has yet to record a hit in a inning in which they have scored (three innings,, four runs, no hits)… Williamsport is still searching for their first hit with a runner in scoring position, going 0-for-9 for the second-straight game…
