POTOMAC PARK — Allegany coach Jon Irons said on Monday that he’d know much more about his team by week’s end.
After an uninspiring offensive showing in an 8-0 defeat to unbeaten Martinsburg to open the Easter mixer Friday, Allegany bounced back with 12 hits in a 14-9 triumph over Musselman.
What did Irons learn about his team?
“I think we’re going to be resilient,” he said. “We have a long way to go to be really good, but I think, if anything, we’re going to be resilient and we’re going to battle. Instead of hanging our heads after that first game, we came back after it.”
The Campers (3-2) finish their difficult week of games with a 2-2 record, losing to Keyser (4-1), 2-0, and Martinsburg (10-0) and defeating Southern (3-1), 8-1, and Musselman (5-4).
Allegany’s bats were silenced by Martinsburg right-handed Christian Alter in Game 1, as the junkballer used a slow breaking ball and control to limit the Campers to just three hits over six shoutout innings.
Caedon Wallace was the lone bright spot offensively, going 2 for 3 with a ground-rule double.
The poor offensive output wasted a solid start from right-hander Caden Long, a Frostburg State signee, who allowed five runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and three walks in five innings of work.
Martinsburg has scored at least eight runs in nine of its 10 games.
Owen Ruppenthal swung the big stick for the Bulldogs with a three-hit day, including a pair of doubles. Isaac Grove tripled and stole two bases, and Brayden Edwards doubled.
It didn’t take long for Allegany to get going against Musselman.
Myles Bascelli ripped the first pitch he saw over the left-field fence for a solo home run in the first inning, and Allegany tacked on three more runs in the third via RBIs from Kohen Madden, Jackson Resh and Landyn Ansel to lead 4-0.
“Myles starting off the game with a first-pitch home run, that’s a momentum thing,” Irons said. “That’s a confidence thing, and I think we just ran with that.”
Musselman answered with four runs in the fourth to tie the game. Kyle Lore hit a two-run double, and Izaac Gilbert drove in a pair on a knock to left field.
Bryce Madden gave Allegany the lead for good with an RBI single in the next half-inning, part of his 3-for-4, two-RBI, three-run, four-steal performance against the Applemen.
The Campers broke the game open with a six-run fifth. Kane Williams had a two-RBI triple, Kohen Madden plated a pair with a single and Bryce Madden and Wallace pushed across a run each on walks with the bases loaded.
Musselman made it a game pulling within 11-8 after a four-run sixth, but Madden drove in two more runs in the sixth on a triple, his third and fourth RBIs of the game.
Madden entered the game in the seventh with the bases loaded and nobody out, and, following an RBI single by Wyatt McClintock, the right-hander fanned three straight to secure the win.
Bascelli earned the win on the mound allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits with five strikeouts and three walks. Gilbert took the loss for Musselman.
“We got to play against two tough teams,” Irons said of the day as a whole. “We pitched it pretty well, although the score isn’t indicative of that. … We have to clean up the defensive stuff. We did a better job the second game of getting the ball in play.”
Allegany hosts Northern (2-0) on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
Mtn. Ridge swept
Mountain Ridge was run-ruled by Musselman, 10-0, in five innings and fell to Martinsburg, 8-1, in the second game Friday.
The Miners (0-5) played better against the Bulldogs, giving up runs in just two innings: five in the third frame and three in the sixth.
Grove and Braeden Ovideo had two hits and two RBIs each for Martinsburg. Jamere Brown and Ruppenthal combined to limit Mountain Ridge to no runs over the first six innings on just one base hit.
Brady Moran singled in the seventh and was moved into scoring position after a David Miller base knock, eventually crossing home on a passed ball.
Statistics from the Musselman game were not available.
Mountain Ridge hosts Northern on Monday at 4:30.