Images by F. Brian Ferguson
Coal City – Independence has been a thorn in the side of the Bluefield baseball team this season.
Tuesday night in game one of their best-of-3 regional championship series, the Patriots drove that thorn in a little deeper.
For the third time in as many games, the Beavers (24-4) could not solve the Independence (22-3) riddle.
Sparked by three runs batted in by Carson Brown and two from Michael McKinney, Independence cruised past Bluefield 10-4 in Coal City.
“I thought we survived more than anything,” Independence head coach Scott Cuthbert said. “We did a good job early. They scored the first run and then we were able to come in and score three. We were able to keep them chasing.”
Bluefield took the early lead when Brandon Wiley walked and stole second base. When the throw to second got away into centerfield, Wiley never stopped and raced home with the game’s first run.
Independence answered in the home half of the first.
Opening singles from Atticus Goodson and Michael McKinney were followed by an RBI-single from Brown.
The throw to third trying to nail the speedy McKinney sailed to the fence bringing him home and sending Brown to third.
Brown would score on a sacrifice fly from Clay Basham for a 3-1 lead. The speed of the Patriots on the base paths would be a headache for the Beavers all night.
“I think it goes back to the fact that we have really good athletes and we run really well. If the other team does make a mistake or two, we have been able to capitalize on them,” Cuthbert said. “We didn’t steal a lot tonight, but we were able to take some extra bases. Early on we put the ball in play better.”
Unfortunately for Bluefield head coach, Jimmy Redmond, it was an all too familiar scene Tuesday.
“Just like the first couple of times that we played them, it only takes a couple of mistakes,” Redmond said. “I thought we didn’t chase as much and we were a little bit better at the plate, but Independence has excellent athletes. They can play short-ball and they can drive it out of the park. You have to play perfectly against these guys.”
Ryker Brown led off the third for Bluefield with a base hit and later scored on a single from catcher Bryson Redmond.
However, every time the Beavers took a step forward, the Patriots would knock them back.
In the bottom of the third inning it was McKinney doing the damage with a deep driver into the trees in left-centerfield.
“He threw a fastball high and I laid off,” the North Carolina State commit explained. “I knew he was going to come back with a curveball. He left it hanging and I put a good swing on it.”
After pitching a masterpiece in the sectional championship game, Indy starter Atticus Goodson did not have his best stuff Tuesday.
The multi-sport standout put his trust in his teammates.
“I had a good warm up and I was throwing well in the bullpen. I had a lot of velocity,” Goodson said. “When I got on the mound I didn’t really have too much control. So, I decided to slow it down a little bit and maybe mix in a couple of sliders. Bluefield is a great contact team and I knew I had to hit my spots and rely on my team behind me.”
Goodson’s teammates rallied behind him and put the game away in the final two innings scoring six runs on six hits.
“I don’t know if Atticus had his best stuff today, but he was effective and he battled all game,” Cuthbert said.
Game 2 in the series will be played at Bowen Field Wednesday night in Bluefield at 6 p.m.
Redmond knows beating the Patriots will require his team to play much better than the first three meetings.
“We just have to play perfect and get past their good pitching. It is a heavyweight fight with Independence,” Redmond said. “Every pitch is a battle because they put so much pressure on you. Hopefully we can eliminate the errors and play a clean game.”
For Independence Wednesday night, McKinney sees it as just more of the same winning formula.
“We just need to stick to the same game plan and if we come ready to play, we will be fine,” McKinney said.
