So far and so good for the Bridgeport High School baseball team as the Indians have been perfect in the early going in their defense of the Class AA state championship. Of course, it hasn’t come without challenges as the team has started out of the gates 7-0.

 

And Thursday night may have been the toughest battle yet to stay unblemished in the early going.

 

Facing off against a talented East Fairmont team, Bridgeport had to battle into overtime to get the victory. In fact, the Indians had to score in the bottom of the eighth to take home a 2-1 victory at the BHS field.

 

“To a lot of people, that’s not what you want because they want to see the big wins. Honestly, who doesn’t like the big wins? In baseball, though, you’re going to have games that come down to being able to get the key hit or the key out so it was good to get tested like that against a really good East Fairmont team,” said Shields. “They gave us everything we wanted.”

 

The game was a pitching duel between Sammy Aloi and David McQuain of the Bees. Although Aloi didn’t get the win, he went 6.1 innings and gave up just four hits, one walk and one run against seven strikeouts. The lone run came in the top of the seventh inning when the Tribe was trying to close things out.

 

Bridgeport’s Logan Smith came on in relief and simply wouldn’t allow Bridgeport to lose. He closed the game with1.2 innings of perfect relief that included three strikeouts.

 

After Hunter Mann doubled in the first and scored later on a wild pitch, neither team scored again until East Fairmont did in the seventh. Bridgeport then ended it in the bottom of the eighth after Smith singled and was replaced by courtesy runner J.T. Harris. Following a stolen base and getting moved to third on a fielder’s choice, Dante Bonamico collected the game-winning RBI to that drove in Harris to end it.

 

“You have to give them credit and our kids credit. Their pitcher was solid and their defense was just incredible,” said Shields. “We got just two runs, but we only struck out once and had two pop ups. We put the ball in play and East Fairmont made the plays. The fact that our kids responded in that environment is a good thing going forward.”

 

The win was in contrast to earlier wins in the week. This past Saturday, Shields and the rest of his staff, team and volunteers worked tirelessly to get BHS ready to host one day of the annual McDonald’s Baseball Classic. After seeing last Friday’s game scrapped due to rain, the work proved worthwhile at the Indians toppled Ripley 11-1 and Oak Glen 12-2 Saturday.

 

Against Ripley, Hunter Mann and Zach Hineman both hit home runs. Joe LaRocca and Elijah Drummond both went 3-for-3, with LaRocca getting three RBIs as well. Smith picked up the win by going five innings, while Houston Morris closed out the six-inning affair.

 

In the contest with Oak Glen, Aloi went four strong to pick up the victory in the six-inning affair. Morris, Hineman, Ross Marra and Jared Cleghorn all had two hits in the 14-hit attack.

 

The big wins continued Tuesday at home against Lewis County as Bridgeport needed five innings to dispatch of the Minutemen. The Tribe won by a 12-1 score as Hunter Haddix picked up the win in four innings of work.

 

LaRocca continued his hot hitting by leading the Indians’ 12-hit parade with a 3-for-3 showing that included a double, triple and four RBIs.

 

On Wednesday, Bridgeport found itself in its first real dogfight of the season. And they found it against Robert C. Byrd.

 

Despite jumping out to a 7-0 lead thanks to a 6-run fourth inning, Bridgeport had to hold off the Eagles by a 7-4 count. Cleghorn was strong in five innings of work on the mound as he gave up two hits and struck out four while not allowing a run or a walk.

 

Mann and Hineman both led the BHS hitting attack with two hits each. LaRocca’s one hit was a home run for Bridgeport as the Indians had nine base hits in the game.

 

“I can’t tell you how pleased I am with the several aspects of the game from the hitting, the pitching and the defense,” said Shields. “The pitching has been there just about every night and just about every inning. And defensively, I don’t know if we’ve ever started this strong.”

 

Shields isn’t just throwing out words. Through seven games, the Tribe has committed just five errors.

 

The Indians look to continue strong play today. The Tribe will host Brooke at 5 p.m. today and have a makeup game at home tomorrow vs. Preston. The game with the Knights is at 11 a.m.

 

Editor's Note: Photos by www.benqueenphotography.com.