×

Golden Eagles fall to Waterford, 15-6

Wildcats remain unbeaten in TVC play

Photo by Mike Morrison Belpre hurler Foster Brand prepares to deliver a pitch to an awaiting Waterford batter during the Golden Eagles’ 15-6 loss to the Wildcats Wednesday.

BELPRE — The Wateford Wildcats just keep right on rolling through the Tri-Valley Cenference Hocking Division.

Wednesday night it was the Belpre Golden Eagles’ turn to feel the wrath of Wildcats as the green and white rolled to a 15-6 victory to remain perfect in conference play.

Senior catcher Isaac Huffman pounded out four base hits and scored four times while sophomore Brock Hayes collected three doubles as the Wildcats broke open a tie ballgame with a four-run third inning.

Huffman got the Wildcats on the board in a hurry when he tripled over the head of the Belpre right fielder and came into score when the throw to third was off the mark.

The Golden Eagles tied it up in the bottom of the first when shortstop Logan Adams singled moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Josh Davis and scored on an Isaac Tullius single.

Waterford got that run back in the top of the second when Hayes doubled and eventually came into score on a wild pitch but Belpre knotted things back up in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Davis.

The Wildcats used some clutch hitting and some not so great fielding by the Eagles to jump back in front for good in the top of the third.

With one out Huffman singled and advanced all the way to third when Belpre starting pitcher Foster Brand’s pickoff attempt was off the mark and rolled down the right field line.

Jordan Welch singled in Huffman with the go-ahead run and then came into score when the Golden Eagles made a pair of errors on Braden Bellville’s infield grounder to increase the lead to 4-2.

It looked like Brand may well escape the inning without allowing any more runs but Hayes delivered his second double in as many innings to plate two and give the Wildcats a 6-2 lead.

Huffman, Bellville and Clay Hayes each collected runs batted in in the fourth as Waterford increased their lead to what appeared to be a comfortable 9-2.

The Eagles came charging right back by scoring four times in the bottom of the fifth and even had the tying run at the plate at one time.

Adams was hit by a pitch to begin the inning and one out later moved to third on a double off the bat of Bailey Sprague.

Tullius and third baseman Andrew Klingler followed with RBI singles and Brand finished the inning with a two-run single to close the Wildcat lead to 9-6.

Waterford wasted little time regaining control of the game as it exploded for six runs of its own in the top of the sixth.

Leadoff man Huffman and No. 2 hitter Welch combined to score seven runs in the game and the duo was once again a key factor in the Cats big sixth.

Huffman got things started with a one-out single before Welch walked and Bellville was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Clay Hayes reached on an error to score a run and Riley Burns followed with an RBI single to plate another.

Brock Hayes continued his big game with a two-run double and Bryce Hilverding capped the scoring with a two-run single.

Waterford head coach Doug Huffman feels like his team is where it needs to be heading into tournament play.

“I think we’ve got pitching, I think we’ve got hitting and I think we’ve got fielding,” said Coach Huffman of his squad, which improved to 18-4 with the win. “We just need to keep working on a little bit of the fine stuff.”

Waterford used five different pitchers in the game with Bellville credited with the win in relief of Burns who started the game.

Belpre honored the four seniors on its roster, Alex Fox, Kameron Wilkins, Davis and Klingler.

“They are all great kids and that is the biggest thing,” said Belpre head coach Terry Mullen, whose team slipped to 6-13 with the loss. “I’d rather have a better kid than I would a baseball player.”

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today