Local Sports

Beverly/Lowell suffers walk-off setback to St. Clairsville

MARIETTA -- Most of the time being able to execute in clutch situations can be the difference between winning and losing a baseball game.

Sometimes it works out the complete opposite though and that was the case in Wednesday's Region 4 American Legion winner's bracket showdown between St. Clairsville Post 159 and defending state champion Beverly/Lowell Post 389/750 at Pioneer Park.

Trailing by a run in the bottom of the seventh inning, St. Clairsville center fielder Carden Bailey came to the plate with nobody out after Jaxon Starks drew an inning-opening walk and was asked to lay down a bunt to advance Bailey into scoring position.

After a pair of unsuccessful bunt attempts, Starks swung away and lined a base hit into right-center field that would advance Bailey to third and keyed a two-run seventh inning that propelled St. Clairsville to a 4-3 come-from-behind-win.

Starks stole second to move himself into scoring position and Beverly/Lowell elected to walk catcher Eli Smith to load the bases.

Post 389/750 reliever Jenner Burge got Roby Hanna to pop out on the infield for the first out of the inning, but walked left fielder Dylan Blon on a controversial 3-2 pitch to force in the tying run.

Matheson King then capped the St. Clairsville rally by hitting a high hopper to second base that bounced off the top of second baseman Cam Sidwell's glove for a game winning single and a huge win for Post 159.

It was a game that looked like Beverly/Lowell had in command for much of the time as they took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning.

"We weren't very clean defensively and we didn't do enough at the plate putting good at-bats together and it cost us," said Beverly/Lowell head coach Todd Engle. "Right now we are scuffling to score runs so hopefully our offense shows up tomorrow."

Beverly/Lowell was the visiting team in the game and they wasted little time scoring the game’s first run off of St. Clairsville starter Connor Nelson in the first inning.

Sidwell was plunked by a Nelson pitch to begin the game and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by right fielder Easton Walker.

Kainan Bradord's fly ball to right field moved Sidwell to third and designated hitter Wyatt Siley came up with a clutch two-out single to right to give B/L a 1-0 lead.

Engle handed the ball to southpaw Witten Schaad, and the former Morgan Raider fanned seven batters in the first three innings of the game, escaping a two-out, bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the second.

Beverly/Lowell has been in a bit of a slump at the plate that started last weekend when they played several games in Lancaster.

That slump would continue Wednesday against the hard-throwing Nelson, whose fastball was clocked in the upper 80s.

"We had seen him (Nelson) earlier in the year in a tournament so we knew he was pretty good," said Engle. "He threw a really good game against a really good team in Wheeling so we knew he was going to be tough."

Post 389/750 collected seven hits in the game but only three of them would leave the infield.

The Boys of Summer still managed to scratch out a pair of runs in the top of the fifth to extend their lead to three as they played a bit of small ball and took advantage of a pair of Post 159 errors.

Jack McCurdy reached base on a fielding error to begin the inning and stole second.

Sidwell laid down a bunt and reached base when he collided with King at first base as the ball got away allowing McCurdy to score and Sidwell to end up at second base.

Walker laid down a perfect bunt that he beat out for single putting runners on the corners with nobody out.

Nelson rallied in a big way to keep things from getting away from him as he got Bradford to ground into a fielder’s choice that allowed Sidwell to score and then retired Siley and Grady Hesson on fly balls to minimize the damage.

Engle felt like his team's inability to come up with that big hit at the right time led to their demise.

"We have pretty good numbers offensively but if you look at the bulk of our season we have scuffled a bit and it has been our pitching that has given us opportunities to win," said Engle. "Today our pitching kept us in the game, we just couldn't get that big hit when we needed it."

After retiring seven St. Clairsville hitters in a row heading to the bottom of the fifth, Schaad ran into trouble which started at the bottom of the Post 159 lineup.

Max Miller, the number eight hitter in the lineup, singled to begin the inning and moved to second when number nine batting Elijah Hill reached base on a bunt single.

Schaad then hit Starks with a pitch to load the bases with nobody out.

Bailey hit a fly ball to center field that not only scored Miller but plated Hill as well when the throw from the outfield was off the mark and ended up rolling into the St. Clairsville dugout.

Smith followed by drawing another base on balls put runners on the corners.

Engle elected to replace Schaad on the mound with Jenner Burge and the right hander got Hann to hit a ground ball to Hesson at third base and his throw to catcher JR Curry was in time to get Starks at home plate.

Burge then got Blon to pop out on the infield to snuff out the St. Clairsville rally and maintain a one-run lead.

Both teams went quietly in their next at-bat before St. Clairsville completed their comeback with the two-run seventh inning.

Nelson fanned 11 Beverly/Lowell batters in his six and two thirds innings of work but it was Blon who was credited with the win after retiring the only hitter he faced in the top of the seventh.

Burge suffered the loss for Post 389/750 who will now have to advance their way out of the losers bracket beginning with today's 4 p.m. elimination game versus Steubenville.

"Unfortunately now we will have to play a bunch of baseball to get back but we've been in this position before," said Engle. "We've been in worse spots than we are right now and we have the talent to do this. It’s just getting it going in the right direction. Don't panic yet Beverly/Lowell nation, we’ve still got a heartbeat and until somebody gives us a second loss we plan on being back here."

at Pioneer Park

Region 4 Tournament

Winners Bracket

St. Clairsville (Post 159) 4, Beverly/Lowell (Post 389/750) 3

B 100 020 0 -- 3-7-2

S 000 020 2 -- 4-7-3

WP: Dylan Blon: .1 IP

Connor Nelson (starter) 6.2 IP, 7H, 3R, ER, BB, 11 SO.

LP: Jenner Burge: 2 IP, 3H, 2ER, 3BB

Witten Schaad (starter) 4.1 IP, 4H, 2ER, 2BB, 7SO.

Beverly/Lowell hitting: Easton Walker 2-3, Cam Sidwell 1-3, 2R, Kainan Bradford: 1-4, RBI, Wyatt Siley 1-4, RBI, JR Curry 1-3, Wade Duskey 1-3.

St. Clairsville hitting: Max Miller 2-3, R, Elijah Hill 2-3, R, Carden Bailey 1-3, R, RBI, Eli Smith 1-2, Matheson King 1-4, RBI, Dylan Blon 0-3, RBI.

Next Game: Beverly Lowell vs. Steubenville, Thursday 4 p.m.