McGuffey on verge of another program first after win
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
McGuffey coach George Linck congratulates pitcher Jake Orr as the Highlanders leave the field at Wild Things Park Monday night with an 8-1 victory over Waynesburg. Orr struck out 12 in throwing a complete game.
Mark Marietta
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Pitcher Jaker Orr delivers for McGuffey. Orr threw a complete game in the Highlanders’ 8-1 victory Monday night over Waynesburg at Wild Things Park.
Mark Marietta
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Jake Orr acknowledges cheers as he leaves the field at Wild Things Park having pitched a complete game in the Highlanders’ 8-1 victory over Waynesburg.
Mark Marietta
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
The throw from home plate doesn’t arrive in time for McGuffey second baseman Austin Beattie to catch Waynesburg’s Hudson Boris stealing in the first inning of the game Monday night at Wild Things Park.
Waynesburg learned a wonderful lesson Monday night.
Don’t give McGuffey’s baseball team room to breath or the Highlanders might just blow you away.
Waynesburg led 1-0 into the second inning but made some errors, giving the Highlanders’ offense a chance to revive itself.
McGuffey exploded for four runs in the second and then scrounged up four more runs the rest of the way too take an 8-1 victory from Waynesburg at Wild Things Park and leave it one win shy of another first in program history.
The Highlanders are 9-0 in Section 4 of Class 3A, and a win against Waynesburg in a game scheduled for today would make them undefeated section champions. McGuffey wrapped up the first section title in school history last week.
Undefeated section champions?
Well, who would have believed it a little more than a month ago, after an 11-5 loss to Ringgold in the first game of the season, a nonsection game?
“I would have liked them to produce a little better at the plate but that didn’t happen,” said McGuffey head coach George Linck. “These guys know how to play baseball. It’s a pleasure to work with them and I can’t say enough about them. We want to play pressure offense and our guys did a good job of putting the ball down. You have to put the ball in play and make the other team make mistakes.”
The game turned on a weird second inning when Waynesburg committed four errors and McGuffey scored four times.
Luke Wagner started it off with a ringing single to center field. With Logan Seibert at the plate, Wagner broke for second. Waynesburg catcher Matt Ankrom made a strong throw to second base but no one covered the bag and the ball sailed into center field, sending Wagner to third.
Seibert walked to put runners on the corners with no outs. Kyle Brookman struck out but Logan Hatfield walked. Jake Ross tried a suicide squeeze. Waynesburg starting pitcher Ross Jones fielded the bunt and appeared to have a play on Wagner, who was headed to the plate.
But Jones dropped the ball for an error, then picked it up and threw it down the right-field line trying to get Ross at first base. A pinch-runner and Hatfield scored. Brock Wallace singled to score Ross. The inning mercifully ended when Austin Beattie lined out to left.
But McGuffey had scored four times on just two hits and were helped by three Waynesburg errors.
“Some errors hurt us,” said Waynesburg head coach Jamie Moore. “Their guy threw well. I expected us to hit better. We’ve been hitting well all year. I expect to get more hits and more baserunners but it didn’t work out for us tonight.”
Meanwhile, Orr was setting down Waynesburg batters almost as fast as they could come to the plate. After struggling through the first inning, Orr did not allow a hit through the game’s final six innings, striking out 12 batters, including the side in the second and fifth innings.
“I had good command of my pitches today,” said Orr. “The guys made plays behind me and when they do, it’s pretty easy to win a game.”
Gardner-Webb recruit Tyler Switalski, who fought one off toward the handle of the bat, had one of Waynesburg’s two hits. Switalski, battling his way back from a sprained wrist, finished 1-for-3 with a flyout to right field and a groundout to short.
Waynesburg got off to a promising start, using two McGuffey errors to take a 1-0 lead. Switalski singled to center and moved to third on a ball that went over the glove of first baseman Luke Wagner by Hudson Boris for the Raiders’ last hit of the game. Boris tried to steal second and the throw by catcher Logan Seibert went into center field, allowing Switalski to score.
Brock Wallace went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI for McGuffey and Hatfield went 1-for-1 with two runs and walked twice.