Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
MAN Thanks in part to a seven-run second inning, Class A No. 3 Man coasted to a 17-0 five-inning victory over Westside Thursday evening at William Tootie Carter Field.
The Hillbillies, who closed the regular season with a 17-8 record, plated three runs in the first inning on RBIs from Preston Blankenship, Drake Veres and Caleb Blevins before scoring seven runs in the second inning.
All of Man’s seven second inning runs came with two outs, as Colton Miller started the scoring by scoring on a wild pitch to give Man a 4-0 lead. Brady Hall-Montgomery had a two-run double and Veres followed with a run-scoring single to increase Man’s lead to 7-0.
Bo Thompson added a two-run double and scored on Gavyn Cline’s single as Man led 10-0 after two innings.
That was more than enough run support for Caleb Vance, who allowed one hit in three innings to earn the win. Vance walked four and struck out six. Brayden Compton tossed two innings of relief allowing one hit, walking one and striking out three.
Man plated four runs in the third inning getting a two-run single from Hayden Fraley and a run-scoring single from Hunter Gibson and a wild pitch to increase their lead to 14-0.
The Hillbillies added three more runs in the fourth inning as Cam Gerace had an RBI double, Blevins a run-scoring single and Gibson drove in his second run of the evening after reaching base on an error.
Isaiah Clay and Wyatt Osborne had one hit apiece for Westside.
Kevin Mitchell suffered the loss for Westside after allowing six runs on three hits in 1 1/3 innings. Mitchell struck out one and walked five in the loss.
Veres had two hits and two RBIs to lead the Hillbillies at the plate. Hall-Montgomery had two hits and two RBIs while Blevins and Thompson each had one hit and two RBIs.
Blankenship and Cline each had one hit apiece and drove in one while Miller had a double.
Compton scored four runs for Man, who got a hit and two RBIs off the bench from Gibson and Fraley and one hit and one RBI from Gerace and a hit from Luke Haney.
Westside falls to 4-16 and will open Class AA Region 3 Section 1 tournament play Monday at top seed and AA No. 9 Bluefield.
Man will host either Tug Valley or Van Tuesday evening at William Tootie Carter Field. The Hillbillies are the top seed in the Class A Region 4 Section 1 tournament and await the winner of Monday’s contest between fourth seed Tug Valley and fifth seed Van.