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Powered by a late offensive surge, the Parry McCluer High School baseball team overcame a 4-1 deficit to earn a 14-4 home win in five innings over Craig County in the Pioneer District opener on Thursday evening in Buena Vista.
The Fighting Blues (3-0) broke away from a 4-4 tie by erupting for eight runs in the fourth inning, and the Blues tacked on two more runs in the fifth to end the game early due to the 10-run mercy rule. PM was playing shorthanded, with several players out sick.
“We were battling back more ways than one today,” said PM head coach Bryan Loy. “We had some guys out with sickness … I was glad we had some of them bounce back.”
“It was a challenge even before the game started,” added Loy. “Our guys really persevered to win.”
In the top of the first, the Rockets took a 2-0 lead by scoring on two PM errors.
The Blues answered back in the bottom of the first when Braedyn Houck scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by Jase Barger, cutting Craig’s lead to 2-1.
Craig responded with two runs in the second to extend its lead to 4-1. Matthew Lucas singled on an infield fly ball to bring home Hayden Reynolds, and Joseph Charette scored on a passed ball.
The Blues got their offense going in the third. After Houck singled, Maison Hamilton brought him home with a single on a hard grounder to right field. Barger then singled on a line drive to left field to drive in Hamilton, and Tyler Wade singled on a line drive to center field to bring in Barger, tying the game at 4-4.
In PM’s big fourth inning, Tanner Coleman started the scoring by running home on a sacrifice fly by Houck. Evan Cook and Hamilton both scored by stealing home, and Peyton Ramsey doubled on a line drive to center field to bring home Barger. Wade tripled to left field to drive in Ramsey and then scored on a single to left field by Brayden Holdren. Up to bat again, Cook doubled to right field to score Holdren and Coleman, extending the Blues’ lead to 12-4.
In the fifth, Barger scored on an error, and the Blues loaded the bases when Holdren was hit by a pitch. Coleman was then hit by a pitch, bringing home Ramsey for the final run.
The Blues racked up 14 hits against four Craig pitchers. Houck led PM with three hits. Recording two hits each for the Blues were Hamilton, Wade, Coleman and Cook. Drew Duncan led the Rockets with two hits.
The Blues’ mobility was a key weapon for their offense, as they racked up 15 stolen bases, while the Rockets had just two. “I was really pleased with how aggressive our guys were on the base bags,” said Loy. “That’s always good when you have guys on that can move around.”
Houck pitched all five innings for PM, striking out 10 and allowing five hits, one walk and four unearned runs. “A little slow start, but he did what good pitchers do,” said Loy. “When their stuff’s not always there, they find a way to battle through it and still give you a solid performance.”
PM committed four errors, while Craig had two. With the loss, Craig fell to 0-3.
The Blues were scheduled to play at Narrows yesterday and will continue Pioneer District action on Thursday when they play host to Covington before traveling to take on district foe Highland County on Monday. Both games are scheduled for 5 p.m.
