Indian Baseball Team bounces back

After opening the season with two losses, the Berkeley Springs High School baseball team rebounded with six wins against just one loss last week. They opened the week with a double header sweep of Frankfort on Monday, April 2 by respective scores of 8-6 and 10-2. The Indians then split a double with Hampshire County on Wednesday, winning the first game 9-8 and dropping the nightcap 9-7, before defeating Southern Fulton the following day 9-1. The week ended with a sweep of East Hardy on Saturday, April 7, winning the first game 11-1 and then receiving a forfeit in the second game.

"I think we're starting to come together as a team," said Berkeley Springs coach Trey Barcus. "We have our spring trip coming up this week and we want to carry this momentum throughout the trip."

Michael Twigg picked up his first high school victory, holding Frankfort to four runs, two earned on four hits in 4.1 innings, on Monday, April 2. Twigg struck out eight, walked one and hit three batters. Campanelli relieved Twigg and allowed two runs on two hits, striking out three and walking two in 2.0 innings. Nate Sirbaugh recorded the final two outs of the game, allowing no runs on one hit, with a strikeout.

Jake Freels had a big game at the plate going 3-3 with four RBI. Freels was 3-3 with a single, a double and a home run. Camapanelli had a pair of hits and a RBI.

Berkeley Springs held a four-run lead heading into the seventh inning, but Frankfort made the game interesting with a pair of runs off of Campanelli. Sirbaugh relieved Campanelli and earned the save. He can thank Mark Carter for making a nice catch in left field to end the game.

"We must get our relief pitchers to shut the door when we get a lead," Barcus said.

In the nightcap, Frankfort jumped out to leads of 1-0 and 2-1, before Berkeley Springs took control of the game with three runs in the bottom of the third inning for a 4-2 lead.

That proved to be more than enough help for winning pitcher Sirbaugh and relief pitcher Jacob Waugh. Sirbaugh worked the first 5.2 innings allowing two runs on six hits, walking six and striking out 10. Waugh worked the final 1.1 innings, allowing no runs on one hit, striking out two and hitting one batter.

"We only had four hits, but drew 11 walks and had two more batters hit by a pitch," said Barcus. "Although our offense isn't clicking yet we did play a solid defensive game. This was two big wins for us over our sectional rival."

Sirbaugh helped his own cause with a single, a double and two RBI. Twigg and Michael had the other Indians hits, with Twigg adding a RBI.

The Indians made it three in a row when they knocked off Hampshire County 9-8 in the first game of a double header the following day.

Freels picked up his first win of the year working 4.2 innings allowing seven runs, four earned, on six hits. He struck out five, walked one and hit two batters. Waugh worked the final 2.1 innings to earn the save. Waugh allowed one run on three hits, striking out three and walking one.

Berkeley Springs led 3-0 after the first two innings, but the Trojans scored four times in the top of the fourth to take a 4-3 lead. However, the Indians scored four runs of their own, in the bottom half of the inning, to take a 7-4 lead and then held on for the win.

Freels went two for three at the plate with a RBI, while Sirbaugh delivered two important RBI.

"This was a good win over a Class AAA opponent," Barcus Said. "I thought we played as a team and would not give in."

In the nightcap, Hampshire County jumped out to an 8-0 lead after three innings of play and then held on for a 9-7, six-inning win. The game was shortened due to a power outage.

Trailing 8-0, the Indians erupted for seven runs in the fourth to get right back into the game, but too many missed opportunities kept Berkeley Springs from their second double header sweep in as many days.

"We did show confidence coming back like that, but we missed too many scoring opportunities," said a somewhat disappointed Barcus. "We couldn't score on two passed balls, we left the bases loaded in the third, fourth and sixth innings and we failed on a sacrifice bunt (turned into a double play)."

Sirbaugh had a pair of singles, a double and two RBI to lead the eight hit Indian offense. Lucas Redick had a double and one RBI, JT Thomas and Michael each had a single, while both Matt Griffith and Joey Berens each had one hit with a RBI.

The Indians played their only road game of the week on Thursday, April 5, defeating Southern Fulton 9-1.

The Indians scored two runs in the second and four more in the third, more than enough offense for starting pitcher Twigg, who pitched five scoreless innings. He stuck out three, walked one, hit one batter and allowed two hits. Sean Diehl pitched the final two innings, allowing one run on two hits, striking out one and walking one.

Campanelli and Thomas led the offense with two hits each. Campanelli had a home run and a single with a pair of RBI, while Thomas had a single and a double with three RBI.

Berkeley Springs was aggressive on the base paths, stealing seven bases in seven attempts.

The week ended with a double header sweep of visiting East Hardy on Saturday, April 7. The Indians took the first game 11-1 in six innings, before receiving a forfeit in the second game.

"We had a scheduled double header and they wouldn't play the second game," said Berkeley Springs Athletic Director Chad Brinegar. "Their coach claimed that there was only one game scheduled, but the WVSSAC site has it listed as a double header on each team's schedule. We don't like winning games like this, but a rule is a rule."

The first game was tight until the bottom of the sixth when the Indians exploded for eight runs to end the game because of the 10-run mercy rule. Berkeley Springs had scored one run in the first for a 1-0 lead and one more run in the third to retake the lead 2-1. The pitchers dominated the action the rest of the way, until the Tribe put the game away in the sixth for the 11-1 win.

Sirbaugh started and went the distance, allowing one run, unearned, on eight hits. He struck out three and hit one batter.

"Nate did a good job on the mound today," Barcus said. "He really mixed his pitches well; he threw a very good game."

The Cougars starting pitcher nearly matched Sirbaugh pitch for pitch, until he was pulled after the fourth inning because of a high pitch count.

Sirbaugh helped his own cause with a pair of hits. Jeremy Michael also had two hits, a single and a triple with two RBI, while Thomas had a hit and 2 RBI.

"This was a good team effort," said Barcus. "It was a tight battle until the sixth. Both starting pitchers were on their games and it was a really close game until the sixth. We hate what happened in the nightcap, but Chad checked the schedule and informed that it would count as a forfeit."

East Hardy came into the game 5-0 and ranked third in West Virginia Class A.

Berkeley Springs, now 6-3 on the season, will travel to the northwestern part of the state this week for games against Paden City (April 10), Bishop Donahue (April 11), Magnolia, the defending Class AA State Champs, ranked third in the Class AA poll (April 12) and Clay-Battelle on Friday, April 13.

"We still aren't playing our best baseball," said Barcus. "Our defense will keep getting better and our pitchers are showing improvement. We have a lot of different people stepping up and that is a positive."