Marietta catcher James Wakefield, right, tags Parkersburg’s Colin McCarter during a high school baseball game Wednesday at Legion Field in Marietta. Parkersburg won, 5-3. (Photo by Mike Morrison)
Missed opportunities were the theme of the day for the Parkersburg Big Reds in Wednesday’s rematch with Marietta at Legion Field but in the end the visitors took advantage of those opportunities to pull back by the Tigers 5-3 for their seventh win of the season.
PHS collected 11 hits on the day but stranded 10 starting runners because they simply couldn’t put the game away against the same Tiger team they beat 10-1 earlier in the season at home.
“It wasn’t anything flashy but we got it done today,” said PHS coach Alan Burns. “We got 11 hits but we just couldn’t put it together like we needed to blow it up a bit.”
The Big Reds collected five hits on their own in the opening inning off MHS starting pitcher Cam Goeller as they built an early 3-0 lead.
With one out in the opening frame, Caden Parker got things going by reaching on a Tiger error and moved to second when Colin McCarter drew a base on the balls.
Nelson Woover loaded the bases and Ethan Marshall grounded Parker but McCarter was thrown out at the plate on a great throw by Tiger left fielder Isaac Knighten.
The Big Reds weren’t executed in any way, with Brayden Petty and Evan Elliott hitting RBI singles to hit the final two runs.
Left fielder Zach Shockley elected to reload the bases, but Goller escaped any additional damage by grounding out senior pitcher Reed Landon Bryan to end the inning.
Marietta took advantage of some brutality by Brian in the first half of the game as he walked the bases loaded after retiring the first two Tiger batters before catcher James Wakefield hit his first out of the game.
Parkersburg added a run in the second on a sacrifice fly by McCarter and that would be the last run they would have until the fifth inning.
Bryan pulled off the second and third runs before the Tigers reached him on a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
With one Wakefield walked and after Luke Bungard lined out to left, senior Braden Schau singled to right field.
Both runners advanced to scoring position on a wild pitch before Tiger sophomore Drew Warden drove to left center field to score both runners and cut the Big Red’s lead to one.
“We fought tonight and showed a lot of emotion and that was something we were missing,” he said. said Tiger coach Josh McKittrick. “We were struggling on the board and showing a lot of stuff so that was a big hit from Drew (Warden).
Goller held the Big Reds in check on third and fourth downs, but allowed Insurance to cross the plate in the top of the fifth.
Marshall walked and moved to second on Petty’s second hit of the game, and the Big Reds later loaded the bases on a home run hit by Shockley.
A wild pitch allowed Marshall to score before Jeweler recovered to hit the side in what would be his final innings in action.
The Tigers took hits from Weston Davis and Jeweler in the fifth and sixth from Bryan but were unable to get it before he came and made a relief in the seventh and retired from the side for a catch.
Bryan allowed only six hits in six solid innings of work while the Big Red defense played one less foul play behind him.
“Our show was very good and it seemed that at times Landon (Bryan) had it under control and at other times he wasn’t,” he said. Burns said, “The defense looked really good tonight and we’re getting better and better with every game.”
Woofter, Petty, Elliott, and Schockley collected two hits each for the Big Reds, who improved to 7-11.
Jeweler held the loss despite allowing only two earned runs in five innings of work for the Tigers who lost their ninth straight game and fell to 2-13 on the season.
McKitrick was pleased with his team’s effort despite leading a few short runs.
“We’re making great strides and if we can maintain those feelings, I think we’ll be fine,” he said. McKittrick said. “We still have a few things that need to be cleaned up but I’m very happy with our effort tonight.”
The Tigers will travel to Point Pleasant today for a Twin State League game while the Big Reds host George Washington on Friday.