No. 5 Keyser outlasts Moorefield, 13-9

May 4—KEYSER, W.Va. — It wasn't the prettiest win of the season, but No. 5 Keyser flexed its depth against Moorefield on Tuesday.

Nine different Golden Tornado hit safely, and two came off the bench to deliver hits in key moments. Patrick Liller slotted a go-ahead, pinch-hit RBI single in the fifth, and Chase Davis came off the pine to garner an insurance run in the sixth with a knock.

Neither squad was at its best Tuesday making six errors each; yet, Keyser was just good enough on the mound and at the plate to outlast Moorefield, 13-9 — the Golden Tornado's fifth win in six contests.

"It was an ugly marathon, but I'll take it," Keyser head coach Scott Rohrbaugh said. "An ugly win is better than a pretty loss. ... They've got kids that can hit. Back and forth, we'd get a few runs and they'd tie it.

"Luckily, we were able to get the lead in the fifth inning and hold onto it for good."

Keyser upped its record to 12-7. The Golden Tornado's offense has come on as of late, scoring 11.8 runs a game over their last five contests.

While Keyser brought its bats again, Moorefield didn't help its cause. Two first-inning errors helped spur a four-run Keyser rally for an early deficit, and the Yellow Jackets made two misplays during the fifth frame when the Golden Tornado blew it open with a five-spot.

Still, Moorefield's fight — it came back from 4-0 and 6-5 holes to tie it up entering the bottom of the fifth — and the Yellow Jackets' approach at the plate were positives. Keyser right-handers Evan Jenkins and Seth Healy only recorded three combined strikeouts against their line-up.

"I thought we played well, getting better," Moorefield head coach Wade Armentrout said. "We've definitely gotten better at situational hitting as the season went along. It was good to see that again today."

Keyser started fast. Noah Broadwater notched a lead-off single in the first, and one batter later, Sammy Bradfield shot a hard liner to right that got by the right-fielder and rolled to the fence for a 1-0 Tornado lead.

Konner Bennett served an RBI single up the middle, an error plated another and Andrew Rotruck capped the first-inning scoring with a hard liner over the shortstop to put the Keyser edge at four after just three outs.

Moorefield answered with four runs in the third to even the tally, with Gavin Wolfe garnering an RBI walk with the bags full to level the score. Alex Miller notched an RBI fielder's choice an inning later to give the Yellow Jackets a 5-4 lead.

Bradfield crushed a two-out RBI double in the fourth to pull Keyser level again, and Healy hit a grounder that got under the third baseman's glove to push Keyser back in front 6-5.

Karson Reed forced another tie for Moorefield after a run-scoring single that fell just in front of a diving Bradfield in center field, but that's when the wheels began to fall off.

Liller pinch hit for the go-ahead knock to give Keyser the lead for good in the bottom half of the fifth, and Healy struck a bases-clearing double with two outs to erase all doubt.

Healy played a key role on the mound too, coming out of the bullpen to allow three unearned runs in three frames of work on three hits, two walks and no strikeouts to pick up the win.

"He's usually pretty solid in relief," Rohrbaugh said. "And it's a big change between the velocities between Evan (Jenkins) and Seth. It gives the batter a different look, so it helps keep them off balance."

Jenkins got the start for Keyser, and the right-hander tossed four solid innings, allowing six runs (three unearned) on five hits with three Ks and four free passes in a no-decision.

Broadwater was 2 for 3 with three runs and a steal at the top of the line-up; Andrew Rotruck finished 2 for 4 with two ribbies and two runs scored; Logan Rotruck doubled, scored a run and swiped a bag; and Bradfield added three runs scored to his three-run base knock.

Tyson Arnold was the losing pitcher for Moorefield. Reed tallied a game-high three hits — one a double — drove in three runs and scored once himself. Miller tallied three RBIs; and Coleman Mongold singled, scored twice and stole a base.

Moorefield (11-13) is the three-time defending Class A state champion in West Virginia, but the Yellow Jackets will need to clean up their defense and pitching to make a run to get back to Charleston.

Moorefield closes the regular season at home against Hampshire on Thursday at 7 p.m. before the playoffs begin next week.

"We want our pitchers to be more efficient so that they can go a little bit longer," Armentrout said as to what the Yellow Jackets are looking to improve on before the postseason. "Defensively, making a couple extra plays and saving a couple extra outs."

Keyser finishes out its slate with a pair of schools from Cumberland, as the Golden Tornado play Fort Hill (3-8) at the Cumberland fairgrounds on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. and host Bishop Walsh on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

"We have some things we need to work on, we need to tighten up our defense," Rohrbaugh said. "We had a couple errors here tonight. Some of them are just mental, some are just trying to be in too big of a hurry.

"Nothing that can't be fixed. I'm feeling pretty good going into next week."

Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.