By Stephen Smoot
In 1908 the great Washington Senators pitcher Walter Johnson, purchased for a grand total of $9.00, took the mound for the first time against the New York Highlanders, now called the Yankees.
In Johnson’s first game, on a Friday afternoon, he shut out New York with six hits. The following day, manager Joe Cantillon marched him right back out and pulled off the same feat. Teams back then mercifully had to take Sunday off, so the three-game series concluded on Monday, with Johnson once again taking the win, earning a two-hit shutout.
Even the incomparable Walter Johnson, however, would have marveled at the stretch faced by Pendleton County and its pitchers as they played nine games in six days, knocking out some of the best teams in their division in the process.
As head coach Eric Crites pointed out, the fifth ranked Wildcats started their season three weeks late, but have played more games than most other teams in the West Virginia Metro News single A top 10.
Into Franklin last week traveled Moorefield, whose squad sits on the cusp of the top 10. They still remembered the corporal punishment applied in Pendleton County’s opener, when the Wildcats swatted the Yellow Jackets 15-6 in Moorefield.
Moorefield was full of vinegar, fresh and ready to play. Pendleton County always remains prepared to compete, but felt the soreness and fatigue from their packed week of games.
And it showed.
Under a bright sunny sky that brought sustained gusts of wind, Moorefield trotted out their ace pitcher, Amber Williams. Against Williams went the rapidly improving Susan Vincell. Vincell faced the top of the order, getting the first batter to pop out, but then allowing a single to centerfield.
The rest of the order hit outs to the defense, including one made by the pitcher herself.
Avery Townsend led off and collected a single on a molasses speed slow roller toward third. She used her speed to beat the play. Jenna Smith followed and saw Townsend steal second during her at bat. She then tapped a ground ball toward third and made it safely when the Yellow Jacket fielder tried and failed to get the lead baserunner, Townsend, out.
The Wildcats found themselves in an odd hitting pattern. Often they would hit the ball sharply, but right into the defense. Baylee Beachler bashed a screaming line drive directly to the third baseman, who knocked it down and made the play on the lead runner. During Beachler’s at bat, Smith and Townsend repeatedly teased the double steal attempt to get the Moorefield hurler off-balance.
Two batters later, Kate Hedrick came up with baserunners at first and second. This time, they executed the double steal. Hedrick then drove the ball to the left field fence, driving in two runs and walking into second herself.
The inning ended there, however.
Vincell faced the middle of the order in the next half inning. The first grounded out, but the second hitter doubled. With a runner in scoring position, the next hitter drove the ball into the ground in front of the plate, where it caromed backwards and struck the hitter, resulting in the second out of the inning. A fly out ended the frame.
In the top of the third, the Yellow Jackets got their first run. They led off the inning with a triple. Two batters later, with one out, they doubled the run in to cut the lead in half. Vincell got the final two batters to hit into outs to end the threat.
An inning later, mindful of the fatigue factor, Crites pulled his pitcher who had done a capable job battling the motivated Yellow Jackets. In came Beachler.
Moorefield got the lead runner on, with the batter hitting a slow motion ground ball and outhustling the throw. On the next at bat, the Yellow Jackets tied the game with a passed ball on a strikeout and a series of uncharacteristic errors that allowed the baserunner to reach home.
Such are how the wages of fatigue, mental and physical exhaustion translate to the field.
Beachler, however, righted the ship and got the final two outs.
In the bottom of the frame, Lizzie Alt launched a double, but could not get driven in. The entire game, Williams placed pitches precisely and almost always got the first pitch over for a strike. Crites implored his team to swing more aggressively as a counter.
In the top of the fifth, Moorefield seized a 3-2 lead on Wildcat errors. As Crites took to the mound to settle his squad, the Moorefield dugout chanted taunts at the mistakes of Pendleton County.
This may have been a mistake, because from that point on, a more focused and determined Wildcat squad competed for the win. Both teams brought their own brand of boisterous support to their hitters all game long, underscoring the importance of this game to both rival teams.
With one out in the same inning and a runner on first, Smith drifted way back to snag a pop out in shallow left, then faked a throw to keep the runner from tagging and running. Beachler then struck out the next batter in three pitches.
Julia Mongold opened the bottom of the inning by pouncing on a one strike pitch and rocketing it to deep centerfield, barely missing a home run, but striding into second standing. Nataley Hedrick pushed Mongold to third with a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt. Townsend followed by working a three balls and one strike count, then pulling a shot deep to right, going into third on a triple and tying the game. Smith then lofted a sacrifice fly that allowed the runner to get home and allow Pendleton County a 4-3 lead.
The Wildcats clung to a one run lead entering the Moorefield half of the sixth. Beachler struck out the first batter, then got the next hitter to ground out. The Yellow Jackets, however, got a two out single. On the next at bat, that runner made it to third, but the hitter made a fatal error by bunting foul with two strikes, ending the frame.
Pendleton County could not get a runner on against Williams in the bottom of the sixth, keeping the margin for error narrow as Moorefield came to the plate.
Beachler got the first batter to ground out on the second pitch. The next batter, however, drew a walk on nine pitches.
The Moorefield dugout erupted in a frenzy of cheers and chants, anticipating a triumph over their rival and their rival’s powerful pitcher. Those cheers got louder when the next batter singled and pushed the tying run to scoring position and the go-ahead run on base.
With runners at the corners, Moorefield’s star, Williams, came to the plate. She got ahead one ball and no strikes, but Beachler got the better of her over the next four tosses, before striking her out swinging with the fifth.
In the meantime, the runner on first stole second. The go-ahead run would score with a single.
Beachler played it textbook. First pitch over for a strike, then the second with the same result. She fired the third pitch seemingly down the middle with no swing. Crites actually leapt out of the dugout, anticipating a strike that did not come.
Beachler shook off the disappointing call and got the hitter to strike out swinging, helping her team earn a great win against a great team, even when the exhausted Wildcats could only muster a less than great performance.
And that is the mark of a team with the potential to do much more in the near future.
