Beckley – The West Virginia Miners hoped to pull off the two-game home sweep of the Johnstown Mill Rats at the Linda K. Epling Stadium Friday night.
They did just that.
The Miners rallied from a 6-3 deficit, pounding the Mill Rats 14-7 in Beckley.
The Miners’ night started poorly in the first with the Rats scoring three runs to kick off the night. Their first run came off of a missed catch by the catcher Kevin Gutierrez, followed by Rat’s first baseman Tyler Dellerman getting walked in.
“Miners pitcher Eric Gustofson’s struggle to find the strikezone contributed to the Miners’ first-inning woes. He labored, throwing 36 pitches and walking three batters but limited the damage, stranding the bases loaded.”
The Miner’s offense immediately got to work, smashing through in the bottom of the first. Denver Blinn and Patrick Mills managed to get on base, while third baseman Mac Danford pounded a three-run home run to tie the score.
“We were due to start hitting the ball again,” team manager Tim Epling said. “Danford came through on his hit and that was big for us.”
Johnstown proved it wouldn’t go down easily, scoring two runs on an RBI-double by Dellerman. They would finish the second by scoring three more runs to make the score 6-3. Gustofson struggled again, walking two more batters, ballooning his pitch count to 68.
Offensively, the Miners didn’t match the great plays they had in the first. The second inning concluded quickly with three straight outs – two flyouts and a strikeout.
While Gustofson’s start was rough, he found some redemption in the top of the third, retiring the side.
The lead was shortened to 6-4 in the bottom of the third when Mills hit a triple to score Blinn home. The Miners managed to load the bases, but stranded them.
Hunter Youngblood came in the fourth inning to pitch, redeeming the defense by striking out three batters and leaving one on base.
Youngblood kept rolling, striking out two more and inducing a fly out in the top of the fifth to strand another batter.
In the bottom of the frame, the hosts managed to cut the deficit even more. Blinn scored his third run of the night on an RBI-double from shortstop Jake Reifsnyder.
The Miners’ defense held steady in the sixth with the offense breaking out in the bottom of the frame.
Reifsnyder was back at it again, slamming an RBI-single to send Juan Familia and Blinn home. The Miners kept pushing their lead with an RBI-triple from Danford which scored Mills and Reifsnyder. When the smoke cleared the Miners led 9-6.
Gutierrez missed another catch in the top of the seventh, allowing the Mill Rats to score another run and cut into the lead. Youngblood responded by retiring the fourth runner of the inning. He finished with seven total strikeouts on 67 pitches and only allowed one run. Josh Zeboskey came on to replace Youngblood, getting a quick strikeout to end the inning.
The bottom of the seventh got off to a promising start for the hosts. Melendez led off with a double and Gutierrez followed with his first hit of the season – a bunt-single. The Miners scored their first run of the inning off of a sacrifice RBI from David Meech to send Melendez home, extedning the lead 10-7.
Zeboskey kept steady on the other side, striking out three straight players for a quick eighth inning.
Mills kept the pressure on for the Miners in the bottom of the frame, smashing a home run on the first pitch he saw. That was just the start of an inning that saw the Miners score four runs and put the game away.
Johnstown attempted to recover, but Zeboskey wouldn’t let them get close. While the Rats managed to get two on base, the Miners would stop them before they could get any more runs. Zeboskey struck out five of the nine batters he pitched against.
Both teams will meet again Saturday in Johnstown at 5:05p.m.
