Parkersburg Post 15 catcher Easton Miller, who was replaced by courtesy runner CJ McCartney, trots toward the dugout following his run-scoring triple during Wednesday night's 6-4 loss to Marietta Post 64. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

PARKERSBURG – Casey Burkhammer worked five effective innings and Jacob Sealey drove in three runs and fired a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh for a save here Wednesday night to help lead Marietta Post 64 to a 6-4 victory versus Parkersburg Post 15 at City Park’s Bennett Stump Field.

Last week, Post 15 manager Mike Goodwin’s squad pulled out a 7-6 win in eight innings against Post 64 at Pioneer Park, but a trio of unearned runs proved costly in the second meeting.

“Uncharacteristic defense for us tonight. Costly errors that changed the game for us. I think we out him them,” admitted Goodwin, who got three innings of no-hit relief from Mason Boice after starter Seth Menarchek worked the first four frames allowing three earned runs with six walks and seven strikeouts.

“Plus we’re short staffed. I only got nine regular players and I called up two juniors today, but hats off to Marietta. They came in with a good gameplan and took advantage of our mistakes. They played clean baseball and we did not. That’s the difference in the game.”

Menarchek nearly didn’t make it past the first batter as Post 64 leadoff man Will Tornes rocketed a hot shot toward his head that he was able to snag. Marietta loaded the bases in the first after Braun Doak and Bo Jonas walked with two outs and Sealey was hit by a pitch, but Post 15 escaped the jam.

Marietta Post 64's Will Tornes awaits to see the result of a pitch while being held on by Parkersburg Post 15's Cooper Cancade during Wednesday's night's game at City Park. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

After striking out the side in the second, Menarchek faced a bases-loaded situation in the third with nobody out after Tornes walked, Gavin Fling singled and Doak drew another free pass. Post 64 took the lead for good when Sealey cleared the bases via a two-run single to center and an error.

Parkersburg, which dropped to 8-4 and has a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Sunday versus Middleport Post 128 at Meigs High School, got one run back in the third. Wyatt Boice, who had a three-hit effort, singled and scored on Easton Miller’s shot to the base of the fence in right-center that resulted in a triple. However, courtesy runner CJ McCartney was left stranded at third after Burkhammer got Cam Cumpston to pop out and Cooper Cancade to fly out.

Tyler Cameron had a leadoff single for Marietta in the fourth, but was erased on a 2-4-3-6 double play after Menarchek struck out Luke Mendenhall.

Marietta increased its lead to 5-2 after plating a pair of runs in the fifth. Tornes opened the inning with a walk and Fling then reached on an error. Doak followed with a run-scoring single to center and after Jonas walked, Sealey had a sacrifice fly, which turned into an 8-5 double play when Wyatt Boice threw out Doak with a one-hop dart.

Parkersburg closed the deficit to 5-3 by answering with two runs of its own. Menarchek, who was hitting ninth, reached on an infield single and stole second. Wyatt Boice followed with his second hit as Menarchek crossed on Miller’s sac fly RBI. Cumpston cut the deficit to a pair when he poked a single into right field.

Marietta Post 64 starting pitcher Casey Burkhammer worked five innings to earn the win during Wednesday night's 6-4 victory versus Parkersburg Post 15 at City Park. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Post 15 made it a one-run affair after Cooper Anderson walked to open the sixth against Logan Fling and later scored on a wild pitch.

Gavin Fling reached on a Post 15 outfield error in the seventh and crossed for the final run when Jonas also reached on an error.

“We’ve had a couple of tough games like that where we’ve let teams back in late in the game,” admitted Post 64 head man Chad Porter of last Friday’s loss to Post 15. “Tonight I thought we had a lot of guys contribute.

“I thought we played pretty clean and we’ll keep getting better. We’ve been hit a little bit with the injury bug and have a couple guys out. It’s given some of our younger guys an opportunity to play and that’s good as we try to improve everyday with the goal of playing our best baseball in mid-July.”

Marietta, which also isn’t at full strength, will carry a 9-7 record into the three-day Bridgeport tournament that gets underway Friday. Post 64 will play one game Friday and two on Saturday before the tournament field is set for Sunday.

Parkersburg Post 15's Wyatt Boice had a three-hit effort during Wednesday night's 6-4 loss to Marietta Post 64 at City Park. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“Honestly, pretty thin tonight on the mound,” Porter admitted. “We’ve already played a lot of games. If you combine that with Warren and Waterford making runs, I mean we’re just now getting going. We’ve played a lot and we’re going to play a lot. Casey did a great job. We needed him to get as deep as he could.

“He got us five complete. Logan Fling comes in, only his second time on the mound, does a good job keeping them in check. They scored a run, but we still had another at-bat to add on and we had Jake ready for the bottom of the seventh. A lot of kids contributed tonight and pleased with the effort.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

Marietta 6, Parkersburg 4

Post 64 003 020 1 – 6 4 1

Post 15 001 021 0 – 4 7 5

WP: Casey Burkhammer 5IP, 6H, 3R, 3ER, 1BB, 7SO

SAVE: Jacob Sealey 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 2SO

Logan Fling 1IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 1SO

LP: Seth Menarchek 4IP, 4H, 5R, 3ER, 6BB, 7SO

Mason Boice 3IP, 0H, 1R, 0ER, 1BB, 2SO

Marietta Post 64 (9-7) hitting: Will Tornes 2 R; Gavin Fling 1-3, 3 R; Braun Doak 1-2 R, SB, RBI; Bo Jonas SB; Sealey 1-2, 3 RBIs; Tyler Cameron 1-3

Parkersburg Post 15 (8-4) hitting: Wyatt Boice 3-4, 2 R; Easton Miller 1-2, 3B, 2 RBIs; Cam Cumpston 1-4 RBI; Cooper Anderson R; Bronson Linville 1-3; Menarchek 1-2 R, SB

Next games: Parkersburg Post 15 vs. Middleport Post 128, 1 p.m. Sunday (DH) at Meigs High School; Marietta Post 64 at Bridgeport tournament, Friday-Sunday.