Published: July 19, 2008 11:38 pm         

Beckley wins one but loses another

If Saturday’s performance was any indication, J.C. Pennington’s high school career carries a lot of promise.

Beckley jumped on Harrison County starter Justin Lantz, scoring all of its runs in the first inning. Pennington and his defense took it from there, eliminating the Nationals with a 4-3 win in the 14-year-old Babe Ruth League state tournament.

Unfortunately, Beckley’s attempt to battle out of the losers’ bracket was ended later Saturday with a 10-6 loss to Elkins. Beckley had lost 7-4 to Elkins in the tournament opener Thursday.

Elkins and Huntington Southeastern will meet at 1:30 p.m. today for the championship. If Elkins wins, a second game will follow.

Pennington went the distance against Harrison, scattering seven hits over seven innings. He struck out seven and walked seven, and two of the three Harrison runs were earned.

Staring the threat of elimination in the face didn’t seem to faze Pennington.

“It put a lot of pressure on me, but that’s OK,” said Pennington, who will be a freshman at Woodrow Wilson next month. “I like the pressure.”

“I have to hand it to (Pennington),” Harrison coach Don Maraney said. “We had him at around 120 pitches. For a 14-year-old kid, that is impressive.”

The Nationals got at least one runner on base in every inning, but key defensive plays kept them from advancing.

“That was a good team effort today,” Pennington said.

Harrison left nine runners on base and had two runners thrown out at home trying to score on passed balls.

In both cases, Beckley catcher Brady Pittman recovered and made perfect throws to Pennington at the plate.

The biggest play came in the fifth, when Harrison had the bases loaded with two outs. Brady Weaver hit a groundball that Beckley shortstop Brandon Wheeler fielded to his right. He turned and threw to second just in time to force Lantz and end the inning with Beckley still ahead by one.

“J.C. pitched a great game,” Beckley coach Darl Poling said. “And he got a lot of defensive help behind him.”

Beckley took a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Jay Webb walked to lead off the inning and scored from first on Drew D’Angelo’s double. D’Angelo later scored on an error.

Two outs later, Wheeler was hit by a pitch and scored on Pittman’s mammoth home run to straight-away center field that chased Lantz.

“Getting that early lead was big, especially when you are facing elimination,” Poling said.

Harrison made it a 4-1 game in the second on Lantz’s RBI triple.

In the fourth, Lantz scored on a wild pitch, and as Pittman’s throw back to the plate got past Pennington, Weaver raced in to make it 4-3.

Weaver relieved Lantz in the first and kept Beckley at bay. He had nine strikeouts and two walks and allowed just two hits over 5 2/3 innings.

— E-mail:

gfauber@register-herald.com



Beckley 4, Harrison County 3

HC: 010 200 0 — 3 7 2

B: 400 000 x — 4 5 2

HC: Justin Lantz, Brady Weaver (1) and Luke Ash, Chase Alonso (5) and Ash (6), B: J.C. Pennington and Brady Pittman. WP — Pennington. LP — Lantz. Hitting — HC: Lantz 2-4 (3b, rbi), Travis Maraney (2b), Corey Mann 2-4, B: Drew D’Angelo 2-3 (2b, rbi), Pittman (hr, 2 rbi).



Elkins 10, Beckley 6

E: 202 202 2 — 10 9 2

B: 310 020 0 — 6 9 4

E: Bedford, Howell (1), Fox (3) and Brown, B: Sean Poling, Brandon Wheeler (6) and Daniel Rose. WP — Fox. LP — Poling. Hitting — E: Fox 2-4, Shiflett 2-4, Brown 2-3, B: Jay Webb 3-5, Drew D’Angelo 1-4, Poling 1-3, J.C. Pennington 2-2, Wheeler 2-3.