Randy Beard's two-run home run in the top of the 8th inning propelled the Concord Baseball team to a 13-5 victory over Alderson-Broaddus in an opening round game at the 2010 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament in Johnstown, PA Thursday afternoon.
The victory snapped the Mountain Lions' eight-game post-season losing streak and moved them into the winner's bracket in what will be outgoing head coach Kevin Garrett's final league tournament.
Beard's (right) home run started what wound up being a five-run rally in the 8th, and Concord would add six more runs in the 9th to turn the game at Point Stadium into a rout.
The Mountain Lions had struggled for much of the game. Concord loaded the bases with less than two outs in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings, but scored just once.
A-B scratched out single runs in the 1st and 3rd, and took a 4-2 in the 4th when CU's outfield misplayed a routine two-out fly ball off the bat of Mark Ruiz into a two-run double.
Battlers starter Ronnie Whitt limited CU to just two runs on six hits in six innings, but with his pitch count near 120 A-B head coach Bill Barr removed him in favor of reliever Derek McDowell.
McDowell kept Concord off the board in the 7th, and got the first out of the 8th. But he walked Tyler Webb on four pitches and surrendered Beard's no-doubt two-run shot to left-center.
Keith Morrisroe follwed with a single, stole second, and scored on Donovan Huffer's triple. WVIAC Triple Crown winner Greyson Schram grounded to shortstop for the second out, but Brooks Cullen reached on a bloop bunt that wouned up as an infield single and scored Huffer.
A-B scored in the bottom of the 8th to get within 7-5, but Concord erupted again in the 9th off A-B reliever Pedro Castellanos.
Kyle Webb led off with a single, and, one out later, his brother Tyler singled. Beard blooped a single to right to load the bases, and Morrisroe singled to right to put CU up 8-5. Huffer (right) singled up the middle to bring in two more runs.
After Schram lined out to left, Cullen (left) crushed a three-run homer to left-center to close out the scoring and turn the game into a rout.
Drew Bailey (below) got the win in relief of starter Trey Smith, allowing just one run on five hits in five innings. The junior from Christiansburg, VA walked none and struck out four in raising his record to 5-1.
Cullen finished the day 2-4 with two runs and four RBIs. Huffer went 3-5 with three runs and three RBIs. Morrisroe was 3-5 with three runs and an RBI. Beard went 3-6 with two runs and two RBIs. Devin Smith was 2-6.
BOXSCORE/PLAY-BY-PLAY: www.wviac.org/custompages/baseball/10tournament/wviac102.htm
Concord, now 29-7, will play Seton Hill in a winner's bracket game Friday, May 7th, at 7:00 pm at Point Stadium.
