SHORT GAP, W.Va. — No. 1 Frankfort combined for 17 hits, leading to a 15-0 five-inning shutout against Moorefield on Friday.
“We did a much better job staying back, hitting the baseball than we have been the last couple games,” Frankfort head coach Matt Miller said. “We attacked fastballs in the zone which we needed to do.”
The biggest swing came in the bottom of the first off the bat of Lane Lease.
He sent a fly ball deep into right and it landed on the roof of the softball team’s home dugout as he jogged around the bases for his first high school home run, a two-run blast that extended the Falcons (8-2) lead to 5-0.
“Got it a little bit above the belt,” Miller said. “He extended on it, he’s 6-foot-7, when you get extended on a ball, you can hit it a long way. Just a huge hit for him, that’ll be a huge confidence builder for Lane.”
Frankfort scored five runs in the first, six in the second and four in the third.
The Falcons had 10 batters record a hit with five posting at least two.
Jacob Nething led Frankfort going 3 for 3 with four RBIs.
Lease drove in three RBIs off a pair of hits while Lanson Orndorf, Blake Jacobs and Uriah Cutter each recorded two hits.
“We worked really hard yesterday in practice working on some things we had to fix,” Miller said. “Our kids did a good job of taking practice to the game today. We stayed back, kept our weight in the right spots. Stayed on the baseball, our timing was much better tonight.”
Lease threw four shutout innings as the Falcons’ starter, allowing two hits and a walk with eight strikeouts.
“He threw strikes, stayed ahead of the count,” Miller said. “Didn’t have to go off-speed a lot tonight. He kept the ball down extremely well, didn’t give up anything in the air. The two hits were both ground balls which was good that he’s keeping the ball on the ground for us.”
Wyatt Royal worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the fifth to keep the shutout intact.
The Yellow Jackets (1-7) used four pitchers who combined for 15 runs on 16 hits, but only walked two batters.
“They’re a good baseball team and they do things well,” Moorefield head coach Wade Armentrout said. “Well coached, well-disciplined team. Good luck to them, I hope they go far in the postseason.”
Frankfort begins its toughest three-game stretch of the season with a trip to Fairmont Senior on Saturday.
The Falcons beat the Polar Bears in last year’s Class AA, Region I Final to advance to the state tournament.
Frankfort plays at No. 5 Allegany (3-3) on Monday at 4:30 p.m. before hosting Jefferson on Tuesday.
The Cougars are coached by John Lowery and have won 20 games in 47 consecutive seasons dating back to 1977.
“Next eight games are really tough,” Miller said. “We know that, that’s why we schedule things. We’re gonna find out real quick where we’re at. We know we’re a very talented group, but we’re gonna find out how good we really are.”
Moorefield hosts Doddridge County on Monday at 4:30 p.m.
“We just gotta do some small things,” Armentrout said. “We gotta keep working hard, be consistent with the things that we do. We gotta be persistent.”