Parkersburg's Parker Woods, who went 3 for 3 with a two-run homer during the Big Reds' 6-2 Mountain State Athletic Conference setback to Cabell Midland on Friday evening at City Park, motions to the dugout following his first-inning double. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

PARKERSBURG — A two-run round-tripper by Parker Woods in the sixth inning was the only damage Parkersburg managed against Cabell Midland here Friday evening at City Park as the Knights left town with a 6-2 Mountain State Athletic Conference victory.

The Knights (6-5, 3-2) of head man Tracy Brumfield watched senior Ayden Perry fire five quality frames with one walk and nine strikeouts before Caleb Crawford entered and worked two clean innings with a quartet of punchouts.

“Tracy always has them ready,” admitted PHS skipper Alan Burns, whose squad slipped to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the MSAC with a noon game set for today versus East Fairmont back at Bennett Stump Field before the Big Reds clash with rival Parkersburg South at 3 p.m. “They have a very good team. I thought our kids competed. We didn’t seem to have it in the first four or five innings and then the kids got into the game and played very well.”

Gavin Fling, who worked six innings with two walks and four strikeouts while allowing 10 hits and six earned runs, suffered the mound setback.

Nick Romine managed a scoreless seventh for the hosts as he worked around a pair of free passes while fanning two.

Parkersburg's Gavin Fling worked six innings during the Big Reds' 6-2 Mountain State Athletic Conference setback to Cabell Midland on Friday evening at City Park. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“I thought Gavin pitched well,” added Burns. “He’s better than that, but he kept us in the game and that was good to see Nick come in. That was his first varsity experience and I thought he did a nice job. We had some pluses. We started hitting there at the end of the game.

“We didn’t adjust early. We had too many strikeouts. We struck out 13 times. One inning we had three backwards Ks. Can’t do that at all. That’s stuff we got to fix, but it’s stuff we can fix. We’ll be ready by the end.”

Fling worked a 1-2-3 top of the first and stranded Braylon Wing and Owen Brunty, who both singled, in the second.

No. 9 hitter Hunter Workman got the key four-run third going by drawing a base on balls.

Shortstop and leadoff man Andrew LaFon followed with a two-run bomb to left and after consecutive singles by Cade Johnson and Eli McGinnis the Knights pushed in front 4-0 thanks to a Wing run-scoring two-bagger and a Brady Ballou RBI knock to right.

Parkersburg catcher Chaz Elam receives the ball as Cabell Midland's Cam Wallace strikes out swinging during the Big Reds' 6-2 Mountain State Athletic Conference setback on Friday evening at City Park. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“I knew it was going to be a tough game coming here to play Parkersburg,” admitted Brumfield, whose squad takes on Brooke at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Marshall University. “Alan does a good job with his team and everything. We knew we had to come out here and play. They were undefeated in the conference.

“We got off to a good start and Ayden threw the ball well. He got his pitch count up so we took him out and then Caleb Crawford came in and threw the ball real well from the left-hand side. That (LaFon’s homer) got things going for us. I think that gave Ayden a little bit of relief, too. He could breathe a little bit. I think that relaxed him a little bit.”

Wing took one for the team with one away in the fifth and after stealing second the Knights made it 5-0 via a Ballou opposite-field single that went just inside the first-base bag.

Cabell Midland stretched its advantage to 6-0 after pushing a run across in the sixth when Brunty had a leadoff single and later scored on Johnson’s RBI fielder’s choice. The Knights, who left the bases loaded in the frame, stranded nine and went 4-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

The Big Reds finally got to Perry in the sixth when leadoff hitter Chaz Elam singled to right and Woods launched his two-run tater to left-center.

Parkersburg shortstop Connor Elkins records an assist during the Big Reds' 6-2 Mountain State Athletic Conference setback to Cabell Midland on Friday evening at City Park. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Although Gavin Fling made it three straight hits with a single back up the box, which chased Perry, the Big Reds watched Crawford record three straight backwards Ks.

The CMHS left-hander worked a scoreless seventh and only allowed a one-out single to Connor Elkins.

Woods finished 3-for-3 and was a triple shy of the cycle.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

Cabell Midland 6, Parkersburg 2

WP: Ayden Perry 5IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 9SO

Caleb Crawford 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 0 BB, 4SO

LP: Gavin Fling 6IP, 10H, 6R, 6ER, 2BB, 4SO

Nick Romine 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 2SO

Cabell Midland (6-5, 3-2 MSAC) hitting: Andrew LaFon 2-4 R, SB, two-run HR, 2 RBIs; Cade Johnson 1-4 R, RBI; Eli McGinnis 1-3 R; Braylon Wing 2-3 R, SB, 2B, RBI; Brady Ballou 2-4 SB, 2 RBIs; Owen Brunty 2-3 R, SB; Hunter Workman R

Parkersburg (5-2, 3-1 MSAC) hitting: Chaz Elam 1-4 R; Parker Woods 3-3 R, 2B, two-run HR, 2 RBIs; Fling 1-3; Connor Elkins 1-3

Next games: Brooke vs. Cabell Midland, 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Marshall; East Fairmont at Parkersburg, noon Saturday; Parkersburg South at Parkersburg, 3 p.m. Saturday.