Myers, Wildcats blank Bulldogs, 9-0

MILL HALL, PA – At the end of April the Central Mountain baseball team struggled in a visit to downriver rival Jersey Shore, the Wildcats finally pulling away for an 18-7 win. That was not the case on Monday as the Wildcats parlayed a 6-run second inning on the way to a 9-0 victory over the visiting Bulldogs.

CM rode the strong right arm of Brady Myers to the win, the sophomore pitching into the seventh inning before departing on the pitch-count rule. He went out with 6.1 innings of one-hit shutout ball, striking out nine and overcoming six walks as his defense played errorless ball behind him.

Myers took a no-hitter into the fourth inning when the Bulldogs’ Gage Marshall smashed a double to centerfield. Jersey Shore would not get another hit until Karter Peacock lined a single in the seventh inning off Wildcat reliever Ashton Probst who picked up two groundball outs to end the game.

Central Mountain meanwhile used timely hitting in the bottom of the second to break a scoreless tie. The Wildcats sent 12 batters to the plate and scored six runs. Chase Brush started things with a walk, Gardy Fravel also getting a free pass. With one out Nate Helms drew a walk to load the bases. ,Kevin Grenninger brought in one run with a single and Gabe Johnson brought in another with a single. With two outs Cayde McCloskey delivered a two RBI single and Cru Stover had a double. A walk to Kelvin Probst followed. Brush walked in his second appearance of the inning and Fravel was walked with the bases loaded, driving in the sixth and final run of the inning.

The Wildcats added a run in the third when Grenninger singled, stole both second and third and scored on a wild pitch. They plated run number eight in the fifth when McCloskey singled in Johnson who had doubled to deep center field. The final run came in the sixth after Kelvin Probst walked and ultimately came around and scored on a groundout from Dallas Alexander.

Wildcat coach Mike Kramer liked what he saw from winning pitcher Myers: “He’s a solid pitcher; he had three pitches working today and he knows the areas he needs to improve on; I’m excited to see him grow in our program.” As for a busy end to the regular season, Kramer said the team will continue its “one-game-at-a-time approach.” He said the starting pitchers have done “a tremendous job… and have guys coming off the bench to back them up.”

Grenninger and McCloskey each had two singles, Johnson and Stover with doubles and Brush with a single.

The win moved Central Mountain to 11-0 in Heartland Conference play, 12-2 overall; ‘Shore fell to 2-10 in the conference, 2-11 overall. For Central Mountain it was the final regular season home game, finishing up with their final five on the road this week and next. They include a Tuesday trip to Bald Eagle Area (9-6), a Wednesday visit to Shikellamy (5-8;5-10) and a Friday make-up date at Danville (6-6; 7-6).

JS     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 = 0-2-2

CM   0 6 1 0 1 1 x = 9-7-0