Bullpen, Clutch Hitting Lead Indians Past Hawks, 10-8; BHS to Play for Sectional Title on Thursday
By Chris Johnson on May 07, 2024
Bridgeport is in the driver’s seat in the Class AAA Region I, Section 2 baseball tournament following Tuesday’s 10-8 victory against University and junior pitcher Justin Duvall is a big reason why.
With the win, the Indians improve to 28-4 and await the winner of Wednesday’s game between University (16-14) and Buckhannon-Upshur, which defeated Preston, 6-1, in an elimination game on Tuesday.
If the Indians win on Thursday in the double elimination tournament they will capture the sectional title and advance to the Region I tournament where they will also be the No. 1 seed.
Duvall pitched 2 2-3 strong innings out of the bullpen and earned his fourth save of the season. Being the closer is a role that he has grown accustomed to.
“I feel really confident in him, he wants the ball in his hands in those situations,” BHS coach Robert Shields said of Duvall, who is also 2-0 and has 37 strikeouts in just over 20 innings on the mound. He’s done that a couple of times this year. He relishes those pressure situations that come with being a closer.”
Zach Rohrig went 2-for-2 with a double, home run and three RBIs for the Indians. Brody Pierce and Mark Biafore each drove in two runs and Michael Romano finished with two hits.
BHS starter Jacob Stavrakis improved to 6-0. He scattered seven hits over 4 1-3 innings with three walks and six strikeouts. He allowed eight runs, but only two were earned as the Hawks took advantage of four BHS errors.
The Hawks struck first, scoring two in the top of the first. Mason McDonald led off with an infield single. Brodee Latocha followed with a single down the third base line and he and McDonald each took an extra base on an error.
McDonald scored on a wild pitch to make it 1-0 and Latocha crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly from Mason McDonald.
BHS got one back in the bottom half of the inning when Rohrig ripped a one-out double to left that brought in Pierce who had reached on a walk.
The Indians chased UHS starter James Bryner in the third. Romano and Kasen Baun led off the inning with back-to-back singles and both scored when Pierce hit a double to right-center, making it 3-2. Rohrig followed by crushing a two-run homer and the Tibe had a 5-2 lead.
Dylan Duvall extended Bridgeport’s lead to 6-2 when he scored on a wild pitch. And the seventh run came via a Curry sacrifice fly that scored Grant Lively.
“I think we just locked in,” Shields said of the six runs scored in the third. “We had some good timely hits.”
The Hawks wouldn’t go away quietly as the bounced back with four runs in the top of the fourth, all coming with two outs and all were unearned. McDonald had an RBI single, Brance McCune scored on a wild pitch and Wenkai Campbell hit a two-run single to make it 7-6.
Biafore gave the Tribe a little breathing room in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run single with two outs. Baun and Rohrig scored on Biafore’s clutch hit.
The easier breathing would be short-lived as the Hawks came back with two more in the fifth. Brock McDonough hit an RBI single and McCune had an RBI groundout to make it 9-8.
The Indians tacked on an insurance run when Conner Blake scored on Baun’s RBI fielder’s choice.
Latocha and McDonough each had two hits to lead UHS. Bryner was tagged with the loss, allowing six runs on five hits with two walks in two strikeouts in two innings.
UHS defeated B-U, 5-3, in Monday’s opening round of the sectional.
Editor's Note: Photo of Justin Duvall by Joe LaRocca.
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