KEYSER, W.Va. — Top-seeded Keyser clinched a spot in the Class AA, Region I, Section 2 final with a 9-2 win over No. 2 seed Frankfort on Friday.
The Golden Tornado (17-5) took a quick five-run lead and never looked back.
Keyser head coach Scott Rohrbaugh stressed the importance of the win to avoid playing an additional game.
“It’s big, we know what the opposite is from last year,” Rohrbaugh said. “We lost this game last year and had to battle back. We’re sitting back, all we gotta do is win one more game.”
The Falcons (11-12) struggled to generate offense to begin the game.
“We got behind in counts early,” Frankfort head coach Matt Miller said. “They took advantage of us being behind in counts. Hit the ball in the first inning, jumped out to a 5-0 lead and we trailed the whole day.”
Keyser’s offense got off to a fast start in the first inning, scoring five runs. Noah Broadwater singled to lead off the game and scored on a Seth Healy single.
After two wild pitches and an infield single by Caden Youngblood, a base hit by Logan Rotruck brought him home.
“Whenever we score in the first inning, we usually end up doing pretty good,” Rohrbaugh said.
Patrick Liller singled to load the bases and a sacrifice fly drove in another run. Base hits from Josh Shoemaker and Evan Jenkins both drove in runs.
Liller doubled to left center in the fourth to add two runs to the Tornado lead.
Down 5-0 after one inning, Frankfort’s offense got off to a slow start. The Falcons only had one hit through four innings.
“We knew if we were gonna win today, we had to win a low scoring game. Noah (Broadwater) does what Noah does. We had to hit the baseball better than we did. He gave us some opportunities, got ahead in the count but didn’t take advantage,” said Miller.
That changed in the fifth inning as Frankfort led off the inning with back-to-back singles from Jaxon Hare and Noah Houdersheldt.
“We started attacking the baseball better,” Miller said. “We took too many pitches early. He throws a lot of fastballs and we took advantage of that. We started attacking early in the count as the game went on.”
An infield single by Noah Raines scored Frankfort’s first run. Lanson Orndorf hit a fly ball to the left field fence for a RBI single.
“They’d been through the lineup a couple times,” Rohrbaugh said. “They saw his (Broadwater’s) fastball, he had to switch things up a little bit.”
The Falcons had four hits in the inning to cut their deficit to 7-2.
Keyser sealed the game in the sixth with a pair of runs. After the left fielder dropped a fly ball. A double by Healy down the right field line put two runners in scoring posiiton.
“I would’ve liked to have about four or five more,” Rohrbaugh said. “These aren’t typical games when we play each other. Both teams always bring their best.”
Youngblood doubled down the third base line to make it 9-2.
Broadwater went the distance for the Tornado, allowing seven hits, one earned run and one walk with seven strikeouts.
“That saves our bullpen,” Rohrbaugh said of the importance of the complete game. “We didn’t have to use anyone else, so that’s great.”
Healy, Youngblood, Liller and Shoemaker each had two hits for Keyser. The Tornado combined for 12 hits with eight of their nine hitters recording a hit.
“We gotta concentrate on hitting line drives and hard ground balls,” Rohrbaugh said of his offense. “Whenever you can put together several hits in an inning, that’s when you’re gonna score runs.”
Cam Lynch started for the Falcons and went two innings, allowing seven hits, five runs and a walk with one strikeout.
Lane Lease went four innings, allowing five hits, two earned runs and a walk with a strikeout.
“Lane pitched great, came in and did a great job for us,” Miller said. “Did what he needed to do, got us through the game.”
Jaxon Hare led Frankfort with three hits, going 3 for 3 with three singles.
“Jaxon had a really good game on offense,” Miller said. “Happy for that, he’s a freshman and keeps working and getting better.”
Keyser beat Berkeley Springs on Thursday 4-1 to open the sectional round. The Tornado scored all four runs in the fifth inning.
Healy went seven innings, allowing seven hits, one run and two walks with five strikeouts. Keyser combined for five hits, two coming from Youngblood.
Frankfort will play Grafton on Saturday for the right to meet Keyser in the section final. Keyser will host the winner on Monday.
“To be honest, I’d rather play someone else,” Rohrbaugh said of a potential rematch with Frankfort. “They’re pretty good, but that’s how it is. We play competitive ball with each other.”