Indians beat Shenandoah in extra innings

The Berkeley Springs High School Baseball Team has struggled closing out games this year. On several occasions the Indians have let late-inning leads evaporate and seen wins turn to losses.

It almost happened again. The Tribe held a 7-2 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh inning against Shenandoah Valley Christian Academy on Monday, April 19, in Stephens City, Va., but by the time the inning ended, Shenandoah Valley had tied the score, 7-7.

It would have been easy for the Indians to have folded at this juncture, but instead they rallied with three runs in the eighth to win 10-7.
Brady Spielman gave the Tribe the lead for good with a leadoff home run and then the Indians added two insurance runs to claim their sixth win of the year.

Jared Spielman got the win in relief.

Jared Spielman helped his own cause with a double, two triples and a RBI. Ben Griffith had two extra base hits, a double and a triple with a RBI, while TJ Lambert had a triple and two RBIs.

The Indians returned to action two days later in Hagerstown, losing to St. Maria Goretti, 11-1.

Goretti scored four runs in the first, one in the second and five in the third to take a 10-0 lead. Berkeley Springs forced a sixth inning with a run of their own in the fifth, but Goretti closed the game out with a single run in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Sectional rival Frankfort visited Berkeley Springs on Friday, April 23, and went home with an 11-0 win.

The Falcons put the Indians in a big hole, scoring seven times in the top of the first for a 7-0 lead.

Frankfort got a leadoff double, then loaded the bases on a walk and hit batter, before another double by the cleanup batter gave Frankfort a 2-0 lead. Berkeley Springs’ starting pitcher, Brady Spielman, struck out the next batter, before a sharp two-run single to left gave the visitors a 4-0 lead. An error and a fielder's choice gave Frankfort a 7-0 lead, more than enough runs for Falcon starting pitcher, Jeff Conley, who pitched the five-inning shutout.

The Indians put runners on second and third in first and second innings, but were unable to get a timely hit that could have gotten them back into the game.

Frankfort added two runs in the second and one each in the third and fifth innings for the final margin of victory.

Lambert led the Berkeley Springs offense with a pair of singles. Ben Griffith had the other Indian hit.

Tyler Holt did a nice job in relief for the, 6-8, Tribe. The freshman allowed two runs in four innings.

Berkeley Springs will be busy over the next several days. They host Musselman on April 29 at 6:30 p.m., East Hardy on April 30 at 4:30 p.m. and Martinsburg on May 3 at 6:30 p.m.