Finishing touches

By Mike Bowen
Times West Virginian

PLEASANT VALLEY May 10, 2008 12:26 am

— East Fairmont baseball head coach Vic Seccuro freely admits he was worried all week about his Bees’ final sectional game against Preston.
His team assuaged those fears.
The Bees erased a 2-0 deficit on their way to a 10-2 victory and the Class AAA, Region I, Section 4 crown.
“I was worried,” Seccuro said. “They outplayed us on Wednesday. But I was very proud of the way my guys came out and played today. We didn’t do anything special. We just came out and played good old-fashioned baseball.”
Preston took a quick 1-0 lead when Ryan Rocha hammered a hanging curveball from East starter Devin Bowles for a solo home run.
The Knights got another run in the third when Rocha walked and came around to score on Matt Lewis’ single.
Bowles settled down after that and shut the Knights down. He went seven innings, giving up two runs on four hits. He struck out nine and walked five. He gave up only one hit after the third inning.
“This was probably his strongest outing to date,” Seccuro said of Bowles. “He wanted to finish, and it looked like he got stronger after the fifth inning. If Devin falters there we are in a little bit of trouble. He didn’t, and that was a key for us.”
The Bees took control of the game for good with a four-run third inning.
With one out, freshman Tyler Jordahl singled, followed by a Seth Quirk hit. Nick Bonnett drew a walk and Jordahl scored on a wild pitch. James Mascaro reached on a fielder’s choice and Bowles hit an RBI single to tie the game at 2-all.
Matt Perrella then put East ahead with two-RBI single.
“We’ve got three freshman in our starting lineup, and they’ve all helped with our success,” Seccuro said. “That’s why they are playing. They deserve to start. When I was a freshmen I was scared to walk down the hallway. These kids have came out and acted like veteran ballplayers.”
East added three more runs in the fifth inning with Travis Nuzum and Jordahl both drawing bases-loaded walks and another Preston passed ball.
Three more runs in the sixth inning finished off the Knights.
Mascaro and Bowles had back-to-back singles and Perrella walked to load the bases. The Preston centerfielder then mishandled Cody Cutlip’s fly ball to allow two runs to score, and Jacob Bower hit an RBI single to bring in the final run.
“We played good baseball today, and I’m proud of that,” Seccuro said. “We hit, ran and threw well.”
The win sends the Bees onto the Region I semifinal against West Fairmont on May 20. The Bears took both games from East in the regular season after the Bees had to forfeit a 6-0 victory for using an ineligible pitcher. West won the first meeting 1-0 in nine innings.
The game will be played at East Fairmont.
E-mail Mike Bowen at mbowen@timeswv.com.

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