MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Potomac Valley Post 64 went 3-1 at the Hillbilly Hardball Classic this weekend, and Fort Cumberland Post 13 and Garrett County Post 71/208/214 both won their final two to finish 2-2.
Potomac Valley narrowly missed out on advancing to the tournament semifinals.
Only the pool winners advanced to bracket play, and Potomac Vally routed Uniontown Post 51 (Pennsylvania), 18-0, and New Philadelphia Post 139 (Ohio), 11-1, on Friday to start 2-0 in Pool 3.
However, it fell to Beckley Post 32 (West Virginia), 9-5, on Saturday to finish second in the pool.
Beckley scored two runs in the second and two in the fifth to lead 8-1. Potomac Valley plated three in the seventh but couldn’t make up the difference.
Noah Broadwater led the Post 64 offense going 3 for 3 with a home run, a double, two RBIs and three runs scored, Uriah Cutter doubled and JJ Charlton singled twice.
Cam Lynch took the loss for Potomac Valley on the mound, allowing six runs (three earned) on seven hits with seven strikeouts and one walk in four frames.
Logan Rotruck pitched the final two innings in relief, surrendering three runs.
Colton Brown went the distance for Beckley, allowing five runs (four earned) on nine hits in seven innings. He struck out five and walked one.
Brown and Reece Patterson had three singles each for Beckley.
Potomac Valley bounced back with a 13-1, five-inning romp of Chillicothe Post 757 (Ohio) in a consolation game Sunday.
Potomac Valley (9-8) scored six runs in the second inning and seven in the fifth.
Post 64 only had six hits, taking advantage of eight free passes issued by Chillicothe pitching.
Broadwater was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Charlton and Tyson Arnold doubled and had two RBIs each, and Kaleb Kuhn drove in a pair.
Broadwater pitched two shutout innings to start. Jacob Nething allowed an unearned run over two innings in middle relief, and Mason Kisamore tossed a scoreless fifth.
Xavier Lawhorne was dealt the loss for Chillicothe.
Post 13’s bats come aliveFort Cumberland closed the tournament with an 11-5 consolation game triumph over New Philadelphia Post 139 (Ohio) on Sunday.
Post 13 (9-4) fell behind 3-1 in the first inning but answered with nine unanswered runs, including a six-run fourth frame, to take control.
Landon McAlpine led the Fort Cumberland offense going 2 for 5 with a double, two RBIs and four runs scored. Caedon Wallace doubled and singled, Caleb Langham and Carson Bradley both tripled and had two RBIs and Tyson Shumaker doubled and plated three.
Landyn Ansel got the ball to start and earned the win, surrendering three runs on five hits with three strikeouts and two walks in five innings. Shumaker pitched the final two frames in relief.
Mason Wagner homered for New Philadelphia, Landon Lehman tripled and Deagan Beaber doubled twice and had three RBIs.
The contest marked the second in a row Fort Cumberland scored double digit runs, also doing so in a 13-1 rout of Greenville Post 140 (Ohio) to close pool play on Saturday.
Shumaker swung the big bat, tripling twice, doubling and driving in four runs. Caedon Wallace went 2 for 3 with a triple and four runs batted in, and Bryce Madden was 2 for 2 with two RBIs and three runs scored.
Steven Spencer tossed a five-inning complete game for Post 13, allowing a run on two hits with a strikeout and two walks.
Nathan Waggoner took the loss for Greenville. Braeden Wills drove in the team’s lone run.
Fort Cumberland manager Brian McAlpine said his team “gave one away” after a 4-3 loss to Wheeling Post 1 on Friday, and Post 13 gave another away against South Charleston Post 9 on Saturday.
Fort Cumberland led 6-5 entering the sixth inning but gave up three runs to lose 8-7. The sixth frame ended up being the final one due to the tournament’s two-hour time limit.
Fort Cumberland trailed 5-1 in the fourth inning before a two-out rally in which it scored five runs to take the lead.
Madden trimmed the deficit to a run with a two-RBI single, and McAlpine doubled to score two and put Post 13 ahead 6-5.
That margin stood until South Charleston’s winning comeback in the sixth.
McAlpine was 2 for 3 with a double and three RBIs, Madden went 2 for 4 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored and Wallace also doubled.
McAlpine was solid in middle relief, tossing 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Caden Long started for Post 13 and Madden was given a blown save.
Samuel Sheets, Joshua Mosley and Braden Sloan pitched for South Charleston.
Fort Cumberland plays next at Garrett County on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Garrett College.
With a 5-1 lead in the 10-game Mountain District series, Fort Cumberland can clinch the district title with a win.
Rhoten plays hero
Garrett County (8-8) walked off Patriots Post 276 of Severn 3-2 on Sunday on an Easton Rhoten two-out, two RBI single.
Rhoten’s heroics were set up by Cole Folk and Ben Lohr, who reached on a single and double, respectively. Both hits also came with two outs.
Gavin Glos gave Post 276 a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh with an RBI single. However, Jared Haskiell cut down a possible second run at the plate with a good throw to Reece Tasker.
Brayden Upole pitched a groundout to strand Glos at second a batter later and set up Rhoten’s heroics in the next half-inning.
Ryan Bird, Tasker and Upole also doubled for Garrett County. Liam Stewart drove in a run in the fifth.
Tasker got the start for Garrett County and allowed a run on three hits with a strikeout and seven walks over four innings. Upole threw the final three frames and earned the victory in relief, allowing a run on five hits.
Karson Koreck had a no-decision for Post 276 after allowing a run over four frames. Ayden Broulliard was dealt the loss in relief.
Glos and Russell Stratman singled twice each for Post 276.
Garrett County bounced back from a pair of losses to open pool play by knocking off the defending West Virginia state champs, Berkeley Post 14, 6-5, on Saturday.
Berkeley scored three runs in the top of the sixth with two outs and pushed the tying to third and the go-ahead run stood at first before Rhoten played hero again, making a diving snag in center field.
The game only went six innings due to a two-hour time limit at the tournament.
Haskiell singled twice, and Stewart, Folk and Landon Yoder each had RBI singles to lead Garrett.
For Berkeley, Cam Moore doubled and singled, Carson Boober had a trio of singles and three ribbies, and Braedon Oviado drove in a pair.
Bird was the winning pitcher and Yoder earned the save. Jason Myers took the loss for Berkeley.
Garrett County hosts Fort Cumberland on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Garrett College.
