NYPL West Virginia Black Bears

Black Bears Win Crosscutter Series in Williamsport

Published on July 22, 2018 under New York-Penn League (NYPL)
West Virginia Black Bears News Release


Granville, W. Va. - In the first game of a three-game road series, the West Virginia Black Bears defeated the Williamsport Crosscutters 8-1.

The Black Bears' eight runs came on ten hits, as the visiting team scored its most runs since June 23.

After giving up a run in the first inning, West Virginia responded with two runs in the top of the second. A solo home run from 2B and a walk to CF Travis Swaggerty with the bases loaded gave the Black Bears a 2-1 lead.

Siri came back again in the top of the third inning with another solo homer, continuing to build West Virginia's lead. He finished the day hitting 2-5 with those two home runs.

P Osvaldo Bido had a solid start on the bump for the Black Bears, pitching five innings of one-run baseball while allowing only five hits. He was followed by P Ryan Valdes, who pitched two scoreless innings while surrendering two hits and picking up a strikeout.

In the last three innings, West Virginia scored five runs to put the game well out of reach. RF Brett Kinneman started things off with an RBI single to put the away team up 4-1.

With the bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning, 3B Mike Gretler hit a bases-clearing double to put three more runs in the board. After a sac-fly from SS Connor Kaiser in the ninth, the Black Bears took a convincing 8-1 lead.

P Cody Smith finished things off with a pair of scoreless frames to give West Virginia a win in game one.

GAME TWO

Due to a postponement on Saturday, both teams played a doubleheader on Sunday, with games lasting seven innings each.

The Black Bears took control of the series in game two, picking up a 4-0 win over the Crosscutters.

West Virginia shut out Williamsport with a dominant pitching performance, giving up just two hits in the entire game.

3B Mike Gretler got the away team on the board first with an RBI double to left field to take an early 1-0 lead. Then in the fourth inning, a two-run double from 2B Zack Kone and an RBI triple from LF Edison Lantigua gave the Black Bears a 4-0 advantage.

The West Virginia pitching staff dominated the Crosscutters, starting with P Aaron Shortridge. The righty threw five innings of two-hit baseball, picking up seven strikeouts to preserve the lead.

P Cam Alldred finished things off on the mound in the sixth and seventh inning, throwing two scoreless frames without a hit to drop his ERA to 1.93 on the season, and give the Black Bears the series win.

GAME THREE

In the final matchup of the road trip, the West Virginia Black Bears were defeated by the Williamsport Crosscutters 2-0.

After two strong offensive performances, West Virginia struggled to get anything going at the plate, picking up only five hits in seven innings.

Williamsport jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, but from there starting pitcher Michael Flynn settled in. In five innings, the righty gave up one run on four hits, picking up six strikeouts in the process.

The Crosscutters got another run in the bottom of the sixth inning, doubling their lead to 2-0. The Black Bears were unable to respond in the seventh, as they dropped the final game of the series.

After picking up the series win, West Virginia returns home to start a six-game homestand. The team's first matchup with the Aberdeen Ironbirds begins Tuesday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

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New York-Penn League Stories from July 22, 2018


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