Efficient Reed, timely offense lead Tigers past Crusaders

Mar. 21—An early-season battle scar couldn't slow Tyler Reed down.

Reed worked four efficient innings and the Tigers broke through with a four-run fifth in a 13-5 win over Greater Beckley Christian Tuesday at the Dust Bowl in Beckley.

A senior right-hander, Reed threw 48 pitches, 32 for strikes. He held the Crusaders to three hits and one run in picking up his first win of the season.

And he was still feeling the effects of taking a pitch in the upper back in the Tigers' 8-7 win over Woodrow Wilson on Monday.

"I started off pretty good," he said. "Near the end I was getting a little rough, but at the beginning I was pretty good. The last inning I was starting to get a little tired. I got hit in my back yesterday and my shoulder blade's a little swollen, so it hurt a little. But I thought I did pretty good."

"For as long as I've watched him, Tyler hits his spots, he throws strikes," coach Jordan Meadows said. "He doesn't have a lot of velocity, but he's a guy who's going to get us outs. Usually a catcher, but he did a good job today."

Reed's primary position is also his preferred position. He began catching in middle school before switching to second base, but started getting ready to take over behind the plate for Parker Redden, who graduated in 2021 and now plays at Delaware.

"I like how I'm in control. I'm in every play," Reed said. "I feel almost like a quarterback. I'm like a captain."

Shady (2-0) got Reed some early run support with two runs each in the first and third innings. The Crusaders then looked to be getting back in it in its half of the third.

Reed walked Maverick Harper with one out and Harper took second on a wild pitch. Hunter Crist then singled to center on a 2-2 pitch to drive in Harper with the Crusaders' first run of the game, and Crist took second on the throw with the Nos. 3 and 4 hitters coming up.

But Reed got Reece Patterson to line out to left field and, after intentionally walking Eli Grubb, caught Kaden Bolen's popup to get out of the inning.

"I was glad that we could get some runs, and I just thought to myself, just let my defense make some plays. I trust my defense. I've always trusted them. They're a pretty good group of guys," Reed said. "I just put faith in my defense and just threw it in there. Stopped trying to throw it past people."

"That's the thing, is he hits his spots," Meadows said. "He mixes it up well. He's got a little curveball that he breaks off hard. He's a senior, has three years experience. Hopefully he has a good year this year."

Shady got to Patterson, Greater Beckley's starter, for six runs over the fifth and sixth innings. Colten Tate — who scored on all five of his plate appearances — hit a solo home run with one out in the sixth, and Reed later drove in Adam Richmond and Cash McCall on an 0-2 single to make it 11-1 and set the mercy rule in motion.

The Crusaders (0-4) made that a moot point with a pair of runs off reliever Jake Meadows in the bottom half.

Patterson took the loss after being charged with 10 runs — seven earned — on 11 hits. He struck out six and walked three.

Patterson had a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh before McCall got the final two outs to end the game.

"We're getting better," second-year Greater Beckley coach Drew Walker said. "We've got some new kids. It's kind of the same as last year. We have some kids that's never played or not played much. We've got a couple basketball guys. It's a learning process every day."

Walker has beefed up the schedule to include the likes of Class AAA teams Capital and George Washington. He has confidence in a staff that includes Patterson, Crist, Grubb, Harper and Conner Miller to navigate through while players get settled in positions and correct defensive mistakes.

"Playing these other teams, they're going to hit the ball and we're just making a few errors here and there that's hurting us," Walker said. "I'm still trying to figure out where everybody's going to be playing so guys are moving around. But once we get it figured out I think we'll be all right."

Shady will visit Princeton Thursday at 5:30 p.m. The Crusaders will host PikeView at that time.

SS 202 043 2 — 13 14 1

GBC 001 002 2 — 5 6 1

SS: Tyler Reed, Jake Meadows (5), Cash McCall (7) and Brody Seabolt, Reed (5); GBC: Reece Patterson, Maverick Harper (6) and Eli Grubb. Hitting — SS: Meadows (2b, 2 runs), Colten Tate (hr, 3 bb, 5 runs), Adam Richmond (2 runs, rbi), McCall 3-4 (3 runs, 2 rbi), Cam Manns 2-4 (4 rbi), Reed (2 rbi), Nate Hill 2-4, Parker Brown 2-4 (2 rbi); GBC: Patterson 2-4 (hr, 2 rbi), Grubb 2-3, Kaden Bolen (2b).

Records — SS: 2-0; GBC: 0-4.

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