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Blues Split Pair Of Games In First Week
The Parry McCluer High School baseball team overcame a 5-0 deficit in the first inning to defeat Bland County 11-8 in the Fighting Blues’ home opener on Thursday night in Buena Vista.
The Blues (1-1), bouncing back from a 14-4 loss in their season opener on Monday at Nelson County, got off to a shaky start in the nondistrict game, as the Bears (1-1) racked up five hits and capitalized on a PM error to go up 5-0 before PM sophomore starting pitcher Tyler Wade struck out two batters to give PM a chance to bat.
PM didn’t get any hits in the first inning, but both Brayden Holdren and Braden Conley walked in the second, and Wade brought in Holdren when he singled on a grounder, cutting Bland’s lead to 5-1.
The Blues’ offense came alive in the third, as PM scored five runs to take a 6-5 lead. Holdren doubled on a grounder to center field to drive in Tanner Coleman, Levi Hepler singled on a grounder to bring home Holdren and Aaron Pruett, and Wade hit a grounder to center field to drive in Hepler. Conley broke the tie by running home on a wild pitch.
Bland responded with three runs in the top of the fourth to take an 8-6 lead, but PM answered back in the bottom of the fourth when Kyler Ramsey grounded to left field to bring home Pruett and Holdren, tying the game 8-8.
The Blues scored two more runs in the bottom of the fifth, with Wade and Holdren both running home on wild pitches to give PM a 10-8 lead.
The final run of the game came in the bottom of the sixth when Conley put the ball in play and Hepler scored on an error.
PM SOPHOMORE Tyler Wade takes a swing during the Blues’ 11-8 home win over Bland County. Wade recorded two hits and pitched the first four innings, striking out six and allowing six hits, one walk and eight unearned runs. (Ronnie Coffey photo)
PM junior Braedyn Houck came to the mound in the seventh and struck out three batters to seal the win, while allowing just one hit and no walks.
Wade pitched the first four innings for the Blues, striking out six and surrendering six hits, one walk and eight unearned runs. Coleman then pitched the next two innings, striking out four and allowing three hits, no walks and no runs.
Going over the game, seventh- year PM head coach Bryan Loy said, “Early on, we didn’t make the plays that we needed to make, so we dug ourselves in a hole, but Tyler Wade did a good job battling through and finding his stuff and ended up pitching a good game for us, and Tanner Coleman came in and pitched well, and it’s always nice to be able to bring in a guy like Houck to finish.”
Conley, Wade and Holdren led PM with two hits each, while Brady Thompson paced Bland with three hits.
NC 14, PM 4
In their opener, the Blues suffered a 14-4 nondistrict road loss in five innings to a strong Nelson County team in Lovingston. The Governors would end the first week at 3-0.
Nelson scored three runs in the first before erupting for seven runs in the second. PM scored two runs in the third to cut the lead to 10-2, but Nelson added another run in the bottom of the third. After the Blues scored two runs in the fifth, the Governors scored three runs in the bottom fifth to end the game early due to the 10-run mercy rule.
The Governors recorded eight hits and had no errors, while the Blues were held to three hits.
Coleman led the Blues with two hits, and Holdren had one hit. Caleb Thomspon paced Nelson with three hits, while Ty Mauer had two hits.
Nelson used four pitchers who struck out seven, while the Blues used four pitchers who struck out four.
The Blues were scheduled to play host to Grace Christian School on Friday, but that game was postponed to a date to be determined due to inclement weather.
Last year, the Blues went 13-9 overall and 8-4 in the Pioneer District, suffering a 12-0 loss to Narrows in the district finals before concluding their season with a 13-1 loss to Galax in the Region 1C quarterfinals.
The Blues graduated just one player, all-district second baseman Maison Hamilton, from that team, and they have six returning players, led by all-region selections Houck, a junior, and Coleman, a senior.
Optimistic but realistic about the Blues’ season, Loy said, “Obviously, you always have big hopes for the season. You want to win, but right now, we’ve just got to take one game at a time.”
Serving as Loy’s assistant coaches are Elgin Davis, Adam Gilbert and Zach Higgins.
PM is slated to begin district action next Wednesday, March 27, at 5 p.m. at Narrows. The Blues will then play host to local rival Rockbridge County on Monday, April 1, at 7 p.m. before returning to district action at Eastern Montgomery on Tuesday, April 2, at 6 p.m.
