Bridgeport’s baseball team is typically one of the last to start its season. This year was no exception.

 

Heading into last night’s game with North Marion, the Indians were standing at 2-1 on the year. The Tribe suffered a season-opening loss at Morgantown before responding with back-to-back wins, including a home-opening victory against Lewis County and a win Tuesday vs. Philip Barbour.

 

Along with the North Marion game and tonight’s game at East Fairmont, Bridgeport will ramp things up at the Connect-Bridgeport Classic being held at three locations Friday and Saturday. Games will be played at Bridgeport High School and Frank Loria Field Friday, while BHS and Frank Loria will be joined by Robert C. Byrd’s Staton Field on Saturday.

 

Teams from across West Virginia will be part of the field. There are a dozen schools participating.

 

BHS Coach Robert Shields said that for those who missed high school baseball, this is the tournament to attend.

 

“Anyone that comes is going to see some good baseball. We’ve got a nice field of teams, including some of the best Class AAA and Class AA schools in the state,” said Shields. “We’re thankful to be able to work with the other facilities after the Rec Complex was unavailable due to having a tournament scheduled, but everything is close and it’s a lot of good baseball on tap.”

 

Shields also thanked Connect-Bridgeport and the Greater-Bridgeport Convention & Visitors Bureau, along with the director Cassie Busdeker.

 

“We appreciate Cassie and Connect stepping up to allow us to add another tournament that will draw people to the area. It’s good baseball for the area and the format is good for our program,” said Shields.

 

The program got their most recent win with a 12-1 five-inning victory against Philip Barbour. The Tribe got huge days at the plate from several players with Ryan Goff and Nate Paulsen leading the way.

 

Goff had three hits – a single, double, and a triple – and managed to collect four RBIs. Paulsen’s two-hit day included a home run that also saw him drive in four teammates. Cam Cole also contributed with a double in the win.

 

Bridgeport held Philip Barbour to just three hits. Ben McDonald got the win in four innings of work where he yielded just two hits and a run, while striking out six.

 

Earlier this week, BHS got another five-inning win in the first home game by belting Lewis County. The Tribe won by a 22-0 score.

 

Once again, the Tribe’s bats were strong. This time, the club belted 13 base hits with Cole and Paulsen leading the way.

 

Paulsen’s total included three doubles and five RBIs. Cole had a triple and a trio of runs batted in for the hosts.

 

The Tribe got all the offense it would need in the first frame. BHS scored 10 runs and sent 15 players to the plate.

 

The offense was more than enough for starter Max Harbert. He went three frames to get the win and allowed two hits and struck out four. Zach Nicholson pitched two shutout innings in relief.

 

Bridgeport’s offense was welcome as the team struggled mightily at the plate in the opener against Morgantown. In fact, BHS had just one hit – a Cole single – in what turned out to be a 4-1 setback.

 

Chris Harbert took the setback. He and Austin Mann did admirable work on the mound, allowing just six hits and striking out 10. However, BHS had not answer for the pitching combo of Quincy Thornton who got the win in five innings and Ryan Fluharty. Together, the pair struck out 15 batters.

 

“We’re starting to mesh and play team baseball and approaching things differently than that first game,” said Shields. “You have to have that cohesiveness develop because they’ve been away for so long. These boys that are our senior leaders were sophomores the last time they were out there. I know they’ve played in the summer, but this is the first few games for this unit as a group.”

 

The schedule for the Connect-Bridgeport Classic is below.