.jpg)
The Parry McCluer High School baseball team split a pair of Pioneer District games last week, earning a 5-2 road win over Craig County last Tuesday before falling at home to Narrows 8-4 in nine innings on Thursday.
With the win over Craig, the Fighting Blues (7-3 overall, 4-3 district) completed a sweep of the regular-season series with the Rockets. When the two teams met on March 23 at PM, the Blues won 14-4 in five innings. Craig ended last week at 4-8 overall and 2-5 in the district.
Pleased with his team’s offensive performance, PM head coach Bryan Loy said, “We produced nine runs on five hits, but it’s just a matter of when you string them together.”
The Blues took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, but the Rockets, who recorded just three hits in the game, scored a run in the fourth and another in the fifth to tie the game 2-2. PM added two runs in the sixth and one run in the seventh to seal the win.
PM’s first two runs came on a line-drive double to left field by Cole Mills, bringing in Brayden Holdren and Maison Hamilton.
Craig cut the lead to 2-1 in the fourth when Hunter Sowers was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, driving in Jaycob Wolfe. Zachary Peters then scored on a PM error in the fifth to make it 2-2.
The Blues took a 3-2 lead in the sixth when Tanner Coleman singled on a line drive to left field to bring home Holdren. Hamilton then scored on a passed ball to extend PM’s lead to 4-2.
In the top of the seventh, after a pickoff attempt at first base, Peyton Ramsey scored the game’s final run on a Craig error. Craig got a hit in the bottom of the seventh, but the Blues ended the game with Braedyn Houck striking out two batters and Evan Cook catching a fly ball in left field.
Jase Barger pitched the first five innings to earn the win for PM, striking out 11 and allowing two hits, one walk and two unearned runs. Houck got the save by pitching the final two innings, striking out five and surrendering one hit, no walks and no runs.
The Rockets used two pitchers, Wolfe for the first five innings and Peters for the final two.
Hamilton led PM with three hits, while six different Blues recorded one hit each. Registering one hit each for Craig were Peters, Drew Duncan and Hayden Reynolds.
The Blues committed six errors, while the Rockets had two.
NHS 8, PM 4
Despite a strong comeback from an early 4-0 deficit, the Blues suffered an 8-4 home loss in nine innings to Pioneer District rival Narrows on Thursday evening in Buena Vista. The Blues saw their three-game winning streak snapped.
With the victory, Narrows (101, 7-0) completed a sweep of the regular-season series with the Blues. When the teams met on March 28 at Narrows, the Green Wave won 5-1. Last year, Narrows beat PM 7-6 in the district finals.
In Thursday’s game, the Green Wave got off to a strong start, getting a pair of hits on fly balls before Carson Crigger doubled on a fly ball to left field to bring home Aidan and Max McGlothlin, putting Narrows up 2-0.
After Aidan McGlothlin struck out all three batters he faced in the first, Narrows added another two runs in the second. Brody Robertson doubled on a fly ball to left field to drive in Reed Perdue, and Sam Albert scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Aidan McGlothlin.
The Blues cut the lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the second when Houck ran home on a wild pitch.
Neither team scored again until the sixth when Hamilton singled on a fly ball to center field to bring home Houck to cut the Green Wave’s lead to 4-2. The Blues tied the game 4-4 when Peyton Ramsey and Hamilton scored on a wild pitch.
After a scoreless seventh inning, the game went into extra innings, and Narrows began its late offensive surge in the ninth when Mason McCroskey scored on an error. Robertson then hit a grounder to drive in Perdue, extending the Green Wave’s lead to 6-4. Narrows scored its final two runs when both Albert and Robertson ran home on a wild pitch.
In the bottom of the ninth, singles by Coleman and Aaron Pruett kept the Blues’ hopes alive, but the Green Wave ended the game with two strikeouts and a catch of a fly ball in right field.
Narrows racked up 14 hits, while PM had six hits. Coleman led PM with two hits. Recording one hit each for the Blues were Hamilton, Pruett, Ramsey and Barger.
Crigger and Aidan McGlothlin paced Narrows with three hits each, while Robertson and Max McGlothlin each recorded two hits.
Aidan McGlothlin pitched the first six innings for Narrows, striking out 10 and allowing three hits, one walk and four runs (one earned). Crigger pitched the final three innings, striking out five and surrendering three hits, no walks and no runs.
The Blues used three different pitchers. After Tyler Wade pitched the first 1.1 innings, Houck threw the next 6.2 innings until he was replaced due to the pitch count limitation by Peyton Ramsey in the ninth inning. Houck struck out 12 and allowed eight hits, two walks and eight runs (four earned).
PM committed seven errors, while Narrows had two. Other than the fielding errors, Loy said, “I thought we did a lot of things well.” He said starting pitcher Wade “threw well, did what we asked him to do so we could bring Houck in and have Houck go as long as he could.”
The PM coach said Aidan Mc-Glothlin “threw well for [Narrows]. Carson Crigger came in on the back end for them. Two good guys.”
“With our two matchups, Braedyn Houck has pitched in both games and went toe to toe with both guys,” added Loy. “People look at those guys as the top dogs in the district, but I think we’ve gone toe to toe with them two times.”
PM was scheduled to play host to Nelson County on Monday before visiting Covington yesterday. The Blues are at Rockbridge County on Thursday at 5 p.m., attempting to sweep the season series after defeating the Wildcats 6-5 on April 14 in Buena Vista. PM will start the month of May with a home game against district rival Eastern Montgomery on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
