Raiders fall to Falcons, 12-10
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Waynesburg Central shortstop Brandon Turcheck (2) takes the throw and makes the force out against Brownsville’s Travis Bevard during Section 2-AA action at Meadowlark Park in Waynesburg. Turcheck and Bevard both made the Herald-Standard All-Area team.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Brownsville second baseman Cory Lent (2) makes the force out on Waynesburg Central’s Dalton Riggenbach (25) and fires to first in time to complete the double play ending the fourth inning for the Raiders during Section 2-AA action on April 20 at Meadowlark Park in Waynesburg.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Brownsville’s Tyler Herman (12) opens the scoring for the Falcons on a two-run double by teammate Cory Lent (2) in the first inning of their Section 2-AA game with Waynesburg Central, Wednesday at Meadowlark Park in Waynesburg.
WAYNESBURG — Brownsville pounded out 13 hits and survived a six-run bottom of the seventh for Waynesburg Central en route to a 12-10 victory Wednesday evening at Meadowlark Park.
After starting the season 0-3, Brownsville has won nine in a row and is currently atop Section 2-AA with five section games left.
“We are clicking on all cylinders the last couple of games,” Brownsville skipper Skooter Roebuck said. “Our young pitchers are getting confidence on the mound and they are throwing strikes. We have been swinging the bats really good and we have a lot of confidence at the plate. We have a lot of speed at the top of our line-up.”
The Falcons (9-3, 7-0) took advantage of some defensive miscues by the home team and drew eight walks to score double-digit in runs for the fourth time this season.
Early mistakes cost the Raiders (4-7, 3-4) and a late rally was put to bed in the bottom of the seventh with two groundouts. Waynesburg has lost five of its last seven games.
“That last half inning I finally got to see the team that I expected us to have,” Waynesburg coach Scott VanSickle said. “We fought for every at-bat and we didn’t concede anything. We worked counts and we were smart on the base paths. It’s the mental stuff and the little things that have killed us. We have to clean that up.”
Brownsville tacked on three runs in the first, courtesy of a two-run double by Cory Lent and a RBI single by Travis Bevard.
Waynesburg trimmed the visitors’ lead down to 3-2 in the second when Trey Rohanna scored on an infield error and Braden Boosel hit a hard grounder to third for a RBI.
The Falcons responded in the next inning with three runs off of three hits. Bevard crossed home plate after an infield error before a RBI groundout by D.J. Zimcosky and a RBI single by Josh Davison that glanced off of the first base bag.
Jaryn Addis ripped a two-run single for Brownsville in the fifth for an 8-2 lead.
The Raiders countered in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run single by Rohanna.
After a scoreless sixth, Brownsville added four more runs in the seventh. Tyler Herman, Zach Bashour and pinch-hitter Brody Bagwell had RBI singles, while Herman scored on a passed ball later in the inning.
Waynesburg only recorded one hit in the seventh, but took full advantage of three free passes, two hit batsman and an infield error.
Rohanna and Dalton Riggenbach were issued bases-loaded walks, while the Raiders scored their other runs on an infield error, a balk, a RBI groundout by Tyler Rush and a RBI single by Boosel.
Brownsville’s Mason Kelly earned the win, tossing five innings and allowing four runs on five hits with three strikeouts and three walks.
“Mason was a bulldog today,” Roebuck said. “He didn’t have his best stuff and I think we only tried to throw four or five curveballs today. He was able to get ahead early in counts and was able to limit the damage in some innings.”
Davidson threw 1 1/3 innings out of the bullpen for the Falcons, while Trevor Steward closed down the game with the final two outs.
Hunter Robison was tagged with the loss for the Raiders, while Brandon Turcheck, Ryan Braun and Scott Benco also saw time on the mound.
“You can’t make mental mistakes and give good teams extra outs,” VanSickle said. “If you do that, you are not going to win. We have to rebound and get back at it tomorrow. I really like what I saw in that final inning and hopefully we can carry the momentum.”