Cunningham lifts James Wood to win over Handley in 7th inning

April 22, 2011

By Greg Brill
Special to The Winchester Star       

WINCHESTER- It's said that baseball is a game of inches.

James Wood's Frank Minor can vouch for that.

When he got the suicide squeeze sign from Colonels coach Jared Mounts in the seventh inning Thursday night against Handley, Minor pushed a bunt that rolled just foul up the third-base side.

Minor eventually struck out, leaving it up to Garret Cunningham to try for the go-ahead hit. With the bases still loaded, Cunningham came through.

Cunningham bounced a two-out two-run single up the middle and the Colonels came away with a 4-2 Northwestern District victory at Bridgeforth Field.

Cunningham also got his first save, coming in for Matt Copley in the seventh to record the final two outs.

Not a bad night for the senior, who is playing baseball again this season for the first time since his freshman year. "It was a curve ball," Cunningham said of his winning hit. "It broke well on me, and I kind of threw my arms at it. It got through. I just came up and did what I needed to do to get the runs in. Yeah, it definitely was a lot of pressure there."

With his offense being up and down all season, Mounts said he gambled trying to squeeze in a late run with the left-handed Minor up. But the long-time coach also had confidence Cunningham could get the job done after the squeeze failed.

Newly inserted into the No. 3 hole, Cunningham also had an RBI single in the third inning and finished 2 for 4.

"He's a senior, and we look [for] that senior leadership," Mounts said. "It was a pressure situation, and Garret came through.

"He started [the season] real hot, but he's been a little lax lately. He hadn't been seeing [the ball] well, I guess. But there late, he broke out of a slump."

Handley (1-9, 0-1) did not have it as well when it came to producing clutch hits. The Judges had nine hits, but they left 10 runners on base.

The Judges scored a run in the first, and another in the third to tie the game at 2. But Handley also left six runners aboard in the first three innings, missing an opportunity to gain control of the game.

"Our guys are frustrated because of their record, and I don't think they have the ability - because they are so young - to look back at what they're doing," Handley coach Eddie Simmons said. "They're doing a lot of good things. They really are. That lineup we put out tonight had four freshman and three sophomores [included] in it.

"They stepped up and they competed and gave themselves a chance to win. With a couple base hits with guys in scoring position early in the game, this could be a different game. That was the difference, and that's what we talked about. The coaches can bunt, run, steal, and put up all the signs in the world, but when you get to third base, somebody's got to hit a ball. And tonight, we weren't able to get that [clutch] hit."

Copley (3-2) spent much of the game getting out of tight spots.

Though he gave up RBI hits to Ryan Hayes in the first and Nolan Potts in the third, Copley also worked his way out of innings.

Handley had a good inning going in the third, when Potts' one-out single tied the game. But Copley got Nick Dempsey to hit a grounder to Cunningham at third, and the Colonels got the out at the plate.

With two runners still in scoring position, Copley made a diving catch on Skylar Wotring's bunt attempt to end the inning.

Copley allowed a runner to get to third with two outs in the fifth, but then he got Potts to ground out to short. Copley willed himself to go out for the seventh inning, but that's when Mounts decided a move needed to be made.

Copley (nine hits allowed, two earned runs, one walk, six strikeouts) got the first out of the seventh before Cody Unger drew a walk and Hayes singled.

Mounts then brought on Cunningham, who had pitched in relief for the first time in Monday's 1-0 loss to Skyline.

"[Copley's] pitch count was up, and he was tiring," Mounts said. "He wanted to keep going back out, and that's good, so give Matt credit for that. But you run out of gas, and the next guy's ready to go."

Cunningham got Jake Rudolph to fly to center for the second out and clinched things by striking out Potts on a 2-2 breaking pitch.

"That was the first time for me [closing], but you stay focused," Cunningham said. "I knew I had a good team behind me to help.

"The coaches told me if Handley got somebody on, they'd think about bringing me in. Everyone's got a lot of confidence in Copley, because he's a really good pitcher. It didn't work out for him this time [to go the distance], but he pitched a really good game."

James Wood (4-7, 2-2) scored two runs in the third to get its first lead. Tyler Murphy had a one-out single and Copley also singled, with his hit getting past Dempsey in left and allowing Murphy to score.

One out later, Cunningham hit a sharp single to right to plate Copley for a 2-1 lead.

The tough-luck loss went to Unger (0-1), who allowed nine hits, three earned runs, one intentional walk, and struck out three.

Copley and Cunningham each had two hits to lead James Wood. The Judges got two hits apiece from Hayes and Aubrey Wilkerson.