Spielman leads Indians past Broadfording

Berkeley Springs High School senior Brady Spielman nearly hit for the cycle a couple of weeks ago coming up one triple short. He had the chance again on Thursday, April 12, against Broadfording Academy and did not squander the opportunity. Spielman not only hit for the cycle (single, double, triple, home run), he clobbered a grand slam home run, had six RBIs and picked up his second win of the year, as the Indians crushed Broadfording, 31-0, in five innings.

"It's obvious that Broadfording was over matched this year," said Berkeley Springs Coach Ron Bittinger. Last year they had a good squad and won their conference championship, but they lost seven seniors to graduation, so it's a rebuilding year for them. We only played two innings at full throttle and got up 15-0. We pulled the foot off the accelerator and were able to clear our bench and get some guys in that don't normally play that much. It's nice to win, but games like this can sometimes cause more harm than good."

Berkeley Springs scored five runs in the first inning, 10 in the second, 10 more in the third and six in the fifth for the final margin of victory.

Jared Spielman started on the mound for Berkeley Springs and struck out five of the six batters he faced. Brady Spielman, the pitcher of record, struck out the side in the third inning, while Colin McPeak and Colten Ganoe each pitched a scoreless inning.

The Indians out hit their Maryland foe 18-4, including the rare feat by Brady Spielman. Zane Mokhiber continued to swing a hot bat, collecting three hits, including a pair of doubles, and three RBIs. Tyler Holt also had three hits, including a two-run home run and four RBIs, Jared Spielman had a pair of hits and three RBIs, McPeak had two singles and a RBI, Noah Sipe had a two-run double, while both Zach Wise and Scott Hessler had a hit and a RBI.
Bittinger was happy to see his offense come alive, and particularly one of his senior leaders.

"Brady has struggled with consistency at the plate and some mechanical issues early on, but it's pretty obvious that he's starting to figure things out," said Bittinger. “We will be depending on his leadership, pitching and clutch hitting to take us deep into the playoffs"

Berkeley Springs, 8-9, plays away games at East Hardy on April 17 and at Clear Spring the following day, before hosting their second tournament of the year on April 21. The Indians will play in the first game slated for 10 a.m. this Saturday. Hedgesville and Lincoln will play in the second game beginning at 12:45. The consolation game is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. followed by the championship game at 7:15 p.m.