Wood Baseball Falls To Applemen 6-3

Posted: March 16, 2013
By GREG BRILL
Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Just in case his players had forgotten, Musselman (W.Va.) baseball coach Jeff Sibole had a refresher course ready on last season’s two games against James Wood.

The Applemen lost two close ones to the Colonels in 2012, and coming off an 11-5 season-opening loss on Thursday to Handley, Sibole was in no mood to see his squad start this campaign 0-2.

The Applemen were aggressive at the plate from the start, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning on Friday night and going on to a 6-3 non-district win over the Colonels at R. Charles Hott Field.

“After our loss [Thursday] night, we couldn’t afford two losses in a row,” Sibole said. “The kids came out ready to play tonight because we gave up two closes ones last year to James Wood and our kids kind of remembered that.”

The Colonels were coming off a tough 9-8 loss to Clarke County on Thursday, and that defeat may have still left a sting with the Colonels when they took the field again 24 hours later.

“[Thursday] night was a tough one,” James Wood coach Jared Mounts said. “Not to take anything away from Clarke County, but we felt like we beat ourselves. We’re always going to be in the game, but we’ve got to compete. I know it’s early, but you’ve got to come out and find a way to compete and push runs across.”

Musselman (1-1) wasted no time gaining control, putting across two runs in the first inning. Then, when James Wood (1-2) put across its first two runs in the third to cut the Applemen’s lead to 3-2, Musselman struck back with some big at-bats to score three runs in the fourth — including a pair with two outs.

The Colonels had more concerns than just falling behind a couple of runs in the first inning.

James Wood senior first baseman (and top returning pitcher) Addison Barber endured a scary moment when, with two outs, Musselman’s Jacob Whitmore pulled a liner right at Barber. The shot nicked the top of Barber’s glove, hit smack on the bill of his cap (which got bent), and hit him in the forehead.

After a few minutes of being attended to by field personnel, Barber stayed in the game. Barber was lifted for a substitute to begin the second inning as a precaution.

Barber’s return to the lineup will be day-to-day, and he will receive tests in the next few days to determine when exactly he will be cleared to play again.

“We’ll get him tested next week,” Mounts said. “They do an impact testing now for concussions. We’ll take him back in and go from there.”

After the frightening moment involving Barber, Musselman pushed across its two runs.

Maverick Keller (2 for 4, run, RBI), who had reached on a single to begin the game, scored on a passed ball. A two-run single by Thomas Presley (3 for 4, RBI) scored Whitmore for a 2-0 lead.

When they came back to score two runs in the third, the Colonels seemed to have things going their way.

The bottom of the lineup got it done, with Mark Villarreal (who reached on an error) scoring on a single up the box by KaCee Duggan (3 for 3, run scored, RBI), and Duggan later scoring off a wild pitch by Musselman starter Chris Schleuss.

But when it came back to bat in the fourth, Musselman shot down any ideas of a James Wood rally to win.

With one out and a runner on second, Keller hit a low liner to center that Andy Kennedy got a tough read on and could not make a play.

The charity double produced an RBI and stretched the lead to two.

The hit by Keller also ended James Wood starter Dan Malsch’s stint.

Coming on in relief, Kennedy had a tough time getting out of the fourth. The senior lefty did get an out at third off of Schleuss’ grounder to the left side, but Zombo lifted a fly that got over new right fielder Joey Eubanks’ head for a run-scoring double (Eubanks had been the catcher before the pitching change) and Whitmore (2 for 4, run, RBI) then lined another double down the first-base line for a 6-2 lead.

From there, all Musselman had to do was watch reliever Matt Parker shut down James Wood’s bats to earn his first win of the season.

The Colonels had trouble with both left-handed pitchers for Musselman, ending four innings with strikeouts and leaving two runners on base in the seventh after Nick Goode’s RBI single had brought the Colonels to within 6-3.

Kennedy’s foul pop-out to third ended it.

“I think for one, we’re watching too many pitches and not having many quality at bats,” Mounts said. “We’ve got to be swinging the bat. When we get good pitches, we’ve got to be hitting them. We’re watching them. Sometimes, when you start doing that and putting the ball in play [more often], good things will happen for you.”