A Second Chance for Berea Baseball

After a rough loss to the Hawks in their previous game the Mountaineers looked to move on and tried to grab one win for the team’s seniors before their night was over. This was the second game of their double-header and the opening hit set the tone for the rest of the game after it seemed like a routine ground ball, but it bounced off of the second base plater and flew over the fielder’s head. The Mountaineers ended their senior night on a sour note with a 19-4 loss in a shortened 7 inning game that was called early due to mercy rule.

The opening hit that flew over the 2nd baseman’s glove was only a sign of things to come for the Mountaineers, but they refused to let things slip away that easily. Berea responded with a double play and a strikeout by pitcher Michael Smither to move on to the bottom of the first. The Mounties scored 2 runs in the first, but would not score again until the 7th inning.

The 3rd inning started with a runner advancing to first because of an error at shortstop. The Hawks then proceeded to score 4 runs with one of them being unearned. The Mountaineers looked defeated as they struggled to even get a batter on base and continued to go three up and three down through the next 3 innings.

The 4th inning was scoreless for both teams, but then came the 5th and along with it came 7 runs for the Hawks. An error at third loaded the bases for the Hawks and Michael Smither walked batters on three separate occasions before he was eventually replaced with TC Eads. New pitcher, same problems. TC proceeded to walk another batter and the score was 11-2 after 5 innings.

The Mountaineers’ struggles would not stop there however. The 6th inning was scoreless again but was capped off by 3 consecutive strikeouts from the Mountaineers. This was the breaking point for the mounties as they hung their hats and the game seemed hopeless. TC walked another batter before being replaced by Zach Withers who ended the inning on a strikeout, but not before the team allowed 7 runs in the inning.

The mountaineers scored two runs before the game was ultimately called due to the mercy rule. This wasn’t quite the senior night that the team had hoped for, but as the team walked off the field the fans stood tall and cheered in admiration of the team’s effort. This loss brings the Mountaineers record to 4-28 as they look to move forward in preparation for their final two games of the season against Transylvania University.