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MLBDL West Virginia Black Bears

West Virginia Wins by 10, Securing the Series Over Trenton

August 13, 2024 - Major League Baseball Draft League (MLBDL)
West Virginia Black Bears News Release


GRANVILLE, W.Va. - The West Virginia Black Bears dominated the Trenton Thunder in a 12-2 victory to clinch the series on Tuesday night at Kendrick Family Ballpark. Trace Willhoite's grand slam in the second inning blew the game wide open for West Virginia, and a four-run sixth put the Bears out of reach.

Trenton took the lead in the top of the second with a run off starter Brenton Thiels. Jack O'Reilly led off the inning with a double before Thiels put two away, posting his first strikeout. Appearing with two outs, Jesse Fonteboa bounced a ball over the center field wall for a ground-rule double, batting O'Reilly home for the first score of the game. Thiels closed the frame with his second strikeout, stranding Fonteboa.

The Bears took back the run and then some in the bottom of the inning. Jack O'Dowd swung on the first pitch to deliver his own ground-rule double. Kendal Ewell reached on a walk, and an in-field bunt from Kasten Furr loaded the bases. Trenton's starting pitcher Cregg Scherrer picked up a strikeout, but two bases-loaded walks brought in O'Dowd and Ewell to give West Virginia the lead.

With the bases still juiced, Trace Willhoite placed a two-out home run in the Bears' bullpen, clearing the bases for a grand slam. Marking his third consecutive game with a home run, Willhoite's long ball gave the Bears a five-run lead.

The Thunder responded as Andy Blake led off the third inning with a solo shot to his own bullpen to cut the deficit to four. Posting another two strikeouts, Thiels retired the next three batters to preserve a sturdy lead.

The defense worked quickly through the next two innings, retiring the side in order in the fourth and ending the top of the fifth on a 6-4-3 double play.

West Virginia added a run in the bottom of the fifth. Trenton reliever Devin Rivera initiated the inning with a punch out, but after walking the next two batters, Kasten Furr roped a single to load the bases with Bears. J.T. Marr followed suit, getting an RBI-base hit that scored O'Dowd. A double play ended the inning, but not before the Bears extended the lead back to five.

Thiels cleaned up the top of the sixth, serving two strikeouts to four batters faced to remove a solo reach on walks.

The Bears closed the door on a Thunder rally in the sixth as Anthony Potthoff headed to the bump for the visiting team. Replacing Rivera, Potthoff faced the entire West Virginia order in the inning. Alex Vergara led off with a triple, with Liquori reaching on walks to place runners on the corners. After tossing a strikeout, a wild pitch from Potthoff sent home Vergara before a groundout by Connor McGuire put Liquori on third with two outs.

Fifth in the rotation, O'Dowd grounded a single to plate Liquori. Ewell followed with a double that scored O'Dowd from first. The next at-bat, Furr picked up another RBI-base hit to bring home Ewell. Marr filled two bases with a single, but a strikeout removed the ninth batter faced. Heading into the seventh, West Virginia took a commanding 11-2 lead.

Still going strong, Thiels reappeared on the field for his seventh inning of work. With two runners on, O'Dowd fielded a ground ball, sending it to Furr at second before Furr drilled it back to Thiels at first. The 3-6-1 twin killing ended the inning, holding Trenton scoreless for the fourth straight frame.

Noah Manning was called on to relieve Thiels in the eighth inning, picking up two strikeouts to keep Trenton down by nine.

The Black Bears tagged on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth to go ahead by a dime. Base hits from O'Dowd and Ewell following the walk of McGuire loaded the bases to lead off the eighth. Furr grounded into a force out at second, allowing McGuire to tack on one more for a 12-2 lead.

Manager David Carpenter sent in Jackson Kirkpatrick to close in the ninth. Despite loading the bases, Kirkpatrick drew up two strikeouts to clean up the frame and secure the double-digit win.

West Virginia compiled 15 hits and six walks in its ten-run win over Trenton. Trace Willhoite hit his third home run in three games, sending a ball 361 feet, into the home bullpen for a grand slam. Jack O'Dowd collected three hits in four appearances, scoring three runs in his standout performance. O'Dowd, a first-half Black Bear, drove in a run for his 27th RBI of the season. Kasten Furr went four-of-five on the night with two of West Virginia's 11 RBIs. In a highly productive game, eight of nine Bears recorded at least one hit.

In another strong start, Brenton Thiels allowed just 5 hits in 7.0 innings pitched to get the win. Thiels picked up six strikeouts through his first 6.0 frames of work. Noah Manning and Jackson Kirkpatrick tallied two strikeouts each to close out the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

Jesse Fonteboa led the Thunder with one hit and one-of-two Trenton RBIs to take the early lead in the second inning. Andy Blake recorded the other RBI on a solo home-run in the third.

West Virginia returns to Kendrick Family Ballpark on Wednesday evening to conclude the six-game home stand, aiming to sweep the series against the Trenton Thunder. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m.

- WVBB -

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