Blues Go 1-2 In Baseball

PM Suffers First Loss In Pioneer District

The Parry McCluer High School baseball team suffered a 10-0 no-hit road loss to Altavista on Monday of last week before splitting a pair of Pioneer District games, falling at home against Eastern Montgomery last Tuesday but bouncing back with an 11-0 road win over Highland County on Thursday.

Despite their first Pioneer loss, the Fighting Blues (8-5 overall, 5-1 district) maintained a slim lead in the district at the end of the week.

Against Highland (6-5-1, 3-30), the Blues had a strong outing on the mound from Braedyn Houck. The junior pitched a complete game, striking out 11 and allowing one hit, no walks and no runs. “Houck had another dominant performance,” said PM head coach Bryan Loy.

The Blues took a 2-0 lead in the first, scoring on singles by Tanner Coleman and Tyler Wade. PM extended its lead to 3-0 in the second when Coleman scored on a groundout by Wade.

In the fourth, Houck doubled on a line drive to left field to bring home Jordan Brockenbrough, making it 4-0. PM added two more runs in the fifth, on doubles by Aaron Pruett and Peyton Ramsey.

Jase Barger hit a three-run home run on a line drive to right field in the sixth, bringing home Houck and Brayden Holdren to extend PM’s lead to 9-0. The Blues scored their final two runs in the seventh when Coleman singled to center field to bring home Houck and Barger.

PM racked up 13 hits, led by Houck and Coleman with four each. Coleman and Barger led the Blues with three RBIs each.

Tristan Carpenter recorded the Rams’ lone hit. PM overcame four errors, while Highland had none.

Reviewing the game, Loy said, “This was a good road win to keep us in first place and moving forward in district play. I thought we played well and were able to get the bats going a little. Hopefully, this will provide momentum for the final stretch of district regular-season games next week.”

EM 4, PM 1

The Blues suffered a 4-1 home loss to Eastern Montgomery last Wednesday in Buena Vista for their first district setback of the season. With the win, the Mustangs (11-5, 4-3) avenged a 9-7 loss to PM on April 2 in Elliston.

In the rematch, EM took a 1-0 lead in the first when, with the bases loaded, Colton Conner was hit by a pitch, bringing home Hunter Howard.

The score remained the same until the Blues tied the game 1-1 when Pruett hit a fly ball to left field and got to second base on an EM error, bringing home Barger.

EM answered back by scoring three runs in the seventh, on singles by Tyler Atkinson, Austin Tate and Conner.

Houck got on base when he was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the seventh, but the Mustangs ended the game with a strikeout and two groundouts.

The Mustangs recorded 10 hits while holding the Blues to three. Leading EM with two hits each were Tate, Conner and Cam Sutphin.

Recording one hit each for PM were Barger, Brockenbrough and Braden Conley.

Tate pitched a complete game for EM, striking out seven and allowing three hits, one walk and one unearned run.

For PM, Tyler Wade pitched the first 6.1 innings, striking out seven while surrendering eight hits, one walk and four runs (three earned). Ramsey pitched the final two outs for PM, striking out two while permitting two hits, no walks and no runs.

“I thought Tyler Wade pitched really well for us,” said Loy. “Just on the offensive side, we didn’t come up with the timely hits that we needed. We were able to get runners on a couple of times, but we couldn’t bring them in.”

PM committed two errors while EM had one.

AHS 10, PM 0

Altavista dealt the Blues a 10-0 road loss in five innings on Monday of last week. A week earlier in Buena Vista, Altavista (8-3) had beaten PM 12-0 in six innings.

In the rematch, Altavista pitcher Avery Payne threw a nohitter, striking out eight and allowing just one walk.

“We hit the ball hard two games in a row against Altavista,” said Loy. “They just don’t always fall.”

The Colonels scored their first six runs in the second inning and added four more in the fifth.

Altavista had nine hits, led by Brady Chewning with two, while seven other Colonels each had one hit.

Holdren pitched the first four innings for PM, striking out one while allowing eight hits, five walks and six runs (three earned). Pitching the final two innings for PM was Levi Hepler, surrendering one hit, two walks and four runs (two earned).

PM committed six errors while Altavista had none.

The Blues were scheduled to start this week with a home game against Highland County on Monday before playing at Bath County yesterday. They’ll continue district action at home against Craig County on Thursday at 5 p.m. before playing host to Nelson County on Friday at 6 p.m. PM will conclude the regular season at local rival Rockbridge County next Wednesday, May 8, at 5 p.m.