BASEBALL
West Liberty-Salem 7, Graham 6
West Liberty-Salem held off a late push to edge Graham 7-6 in a back-and-forth battle that came down to the final out.
Graham threatened early but couldn’t cash in with runners on in the first, then broke through in the bottom half of the inning. Carson Powell and Jack Traylor were both hit by pitches, and Brody Jenkins drew a two-out walk to load the bases. Levi Hollingsworth followed by ripping a single up the middle to score two and give the Falcons a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers answered in a big way in the second. Dallas Koons drew a walk, Beckett Sullivan reached on an error, and Timmy Howells dropped down a bunt single to load the bases. Isaac Sertell lined a single to center to tie the game, and Braden Hershberger added a sacrifice fly to give West Liberty-Salem a 3-2 lead.
Graham responded right back in the bottom of the inning. Kase Loudenback doubled to tie it, and Kingston McWilliams delivered a two-out RBI single to put the Falcons back in front 4-3.
West Liberty-Salem evened things up again in the third as Jeremiah and Josiah Johnson opened the inning with back-to-back singles, and Brandel Sullivan reached on an error to bring home the tying run. The Tigers regained the lead in the fourth on a two-out RBI single from Sullivan, then added insurance down the stretch. A sacrifice fly from Howells made it 6-4 in the fifth, and Hershberger drove in another on a fielder’s choice to extend the lead to 7-4 heading into the seventh.
Graham made things interesting late. The first two batters reached on errors, and Jenkins scored to cut into the lead. After two groundouts, Hollingsworth came home on a passed ball to make it 7-6, but Brandel Sullivan recorded a strikeout looking to end the game and seal the win.
Sertell led West Liberty-Salem with two hits and two RBIs, while Hershberger and Koons each drove in a pair. Jeremiah Johnson also added two hits. For Graham, Powell had a two-hit day, and Hollingsworth drove in two runs.
West Liberty-Salem improves to 7-4 and will face Mechanicsburg in a two-game series starting Monday. Graham falls to 2-10 and will take on North Union in a two-game set.
SOFTBALL
North Union 13, West Liberty-Salem 3 (6 innings)
North Union used a big fifth inning to pull away from West Liberty-Salem, rolling to a 13-3 run-rule win in six innings.
The Lady Tigers struck first in the opening inning. Kaylee Blair drew a walk and eventually scored on a two-out infield double from Ashlyn Yeater to make it 1-0.
North Union answered in the second, using a leadoff walk, an error, and aggressive baserunning to set up an RBI groundout that tied the game at one.
West Liberty-Salem regained the lead in the third. Emily King led off with a single, and Lucas followed with a triple to right to bring her home. Lucas later scored on a sacrifice fly, giving the Lady Tigers a 3-1 advantage.
North Union responded again and took control for good. After a pair of errors put runners on, the Ladycats cleared the bases with a double to tie the game, then took the lead on a sacrifice bunt to go up 4-3.
From there, North Union took over. The Ladycats erupted for seven runs in the fifth inning on six hits and three walks, with multiple two-RBI hits to center field breaking the game open.
In the sixth, North Union ended it via run rule, scoring on an RBI groundout and a passed ball to cap the 13-3 final.
Offensively for West Liberty-Salem, four different players recorded hits while three players drove in runs.
West Liberty-Salem drops to 4-10 and will prepare for a two-game series against Mechanicsburg starting Monday.
