SHORT GAP, W.Va. — After Frankfort survived a back and forth opening game of the Class AAA, Region II Final on Thursday, it was all Bridgeport on Friday in Game 2.
The Indians (25-9) scored six runs in the first inning and cruised to an 11-0 five-inning shutout to even the series.
“We dug ourselves a hole in the first inning and just didn’t battle back out of it,” Frankfort manager Matt Miller said. “Their pitcher did a great job all day, Owen (Sondericker) threw a great game, kept his pitch count down. We just didn’t get it done. Gotta score runs to win today and we didn’t.”
The series shifts back to Bridgeport, West Virginia, on Saturday at 1 p.m. for a winner-take-all Game 3.
In the top of the first, Bridgeport loaded the bases with one out.
Base hits from from Sondericker, Jacob Stavrakis and Jack Gould combined to drive in five runs with a sacrifice fly by Sam Goodwin adding a sixth.
Bridgeport led 6-0 after 35 pitches in the top of the first inning.
“That’s what makes us a good team,” Bridgeport manager Robert Shields said. “When we get a good, quality at-bat, our batting averages increase, our runs scoring production increases, a lot of factors go into it. When we are impatient, that’s when we’re at fault.”
Bridgeport also capitalized off a pair of errors by the Falcons (21-8), leading to two of the six first-inning runs.
The Indians added two runs in the third and three in the fourth to conclude the scoring.
“They were just hitting the ball hard today,” Miller said of Bridgeport’s offense. “They took the ball to right field a lot. They were seeing the ball deep and hitting the ball to right field.”
Sondericker threw five shutout innings, allowing four hits and two walks only needing 61 pitches.
“He’s pounding the zone, that’s the big thing,” Shields said. “He just pounded the zone, his strike to ball zone was 39 strikes out of 59 pitches. That’s pretty good, and 59 pitches is 12 pitches or less an inning.”
Sam Romano led the Indians going 3 for 3 with two RBIs while Luke Rohrig and Sondericker each recorded a pair of hits.
Uriah Cutter recorded two of Frankfort’s four hits while Lanson Orndorf and Jesus Perdew provided the other two.
“We’re a senior oriented team even though we don’t start a lot of seniors,” Shields said of the way his team bounced back from Thursday’s Game 1. “They’ve bought into being a team, I think that’s the big thing, we’re unified right now. Kids are behind each other, backing each other up and that goes a long way.”
Saturday’s winner clinches a trip to next week’s state tournament while the loser’s season comes to an end.
“This one doesn’t matter,” Miller said of his postgame message. “We got another one, we handled our business last night in a close one. They handled their business today. Tomorrow, we both gotta go out and fight again. That’s the message, just go out and fight again.”