CUMBERLAND — After Allegany opened the game with eight unanswered runs, Mountain Ridge settled in.
The Miners (2-5, 0-4 Western Maryland Athletic Conference) had plenty of chances to cut it closer, but left 13 runners on base.
The Campers (5-3, 2-3 WestMAC) got out of some crucial pitching jams and added a late insurance run, leading to a 9-2 victory on Wednesday.
“We didn’t play our best baseball today,” Allegany head coach Jon Irons said. “I’ve seen them play at times as well as anybody around here. Sometimes it’s a mentality, sometimes it’s approach. But we have to find a way to sustain that, no matter who we’re playing.”
Mountain Ridge head coach Justin Cook declined to comment.
The Miners stranded the bases loaded in the third, fourth and sixth innings.
Mountain Ridge left two runners in scoring position in the top of the seventh to end the game.
The Miners scored their two runs off walks after loading the bases in the top of the third as Brody Vanmeter and Daniel Swindle earned free passes.
Allegany’s Landyn Ansel and Cole Ricker pitched with the bases loaded, but neither allowed a run across 3 2/3 combined innings.
Ansel walked two and struck out four while Ricker allowed two hits and two walks with a strikeout.
“We did find our way out of some jams,” Irons said. “We limited damage but we also put ourselves in those jams, too. Most of those jams were created by walking guys. If we don’t do that, we don’t hurt ourselves, maybe we don’t have that jam to start out with.”
The Campers scored six runs in the first inning off singles from Ricker, Ansel and Eli Imes along with a fielder’s choice and an error.
A balk and another Ansel single extended Alco’s lead to 8-0 after two.
Ansel finished 2 for 3 with three RBIs and a stolen base.
Kane Williams added a run on a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
“We were getting the ball in play,” Irons said. “They made some mistakes, we were opportunistic with that.”
Jake Printy took the mound in the second inning and went five innings, allowing three hits, two earned runs and two walks with three strikeouts for Mountain Ridge.
John Delaney led the Miners going 2 for 3 with a double and a walk.
Both teams head to the Hot Stove Complex for a doubleheader on Friday.
Allegany plays Martinsburg while Mountain Ridge faces CMIT-North at 11 a.m. before swapping opponents at 1 p.m.
“Martinsburg will be a good test for us, we scrimmaged them earlier this year,” Irons said. “They’re a good baseball team, and we’ll have to play well against them. Don’t know a lot about CMIT-North, don’t have a lot of common opponents. But they gave us a call and they want to come up here.”