Beckley Babe Ruth defeats Huntington in Game 1
Jul. 9—Jacob Meadows was not kind to relief pitchers.
He wasn't much nicer to opposing hitters.
Meadows and Beckley starter Reid Warden held Huntington Southeast to three hits and Meadows greeted two relievers with a pair of big hits in a 9-2 victory Friday night in the first game of the Babe Ruth League 15-year-old state championship series at Harry Lewin Field.
Beckley needs one more win in the best-of-3 series to win the title and advance to the Ohio Valley Regional July 28-31 in Eau Claire, Wis.
Meadows got Beckley on the board with a solo home run to lead off the third. He pulled a 1-0 pitch from Kellen Copley — who was facing his first batter filling in for starter Garrett Cornwell — over the right field fence.
Meadows also greeted Ethan Hatcher abruptly, doubling off that same fence for a two-run double in the fifth that capped off a five-run Beckley rally to open up the game at 8-0.
The scoring in that inning started with Warden's long two-run homer to right center with one out.
It was that same combination that gave the Huntington bats trouble.
Warden did face first-inning trouble when leadoff hitter David Robinson reached on an error and Wyatt Goad walked to lead it off. But he was able to retire Brian Robinson and Cornwell on consecutive first-pitch fly balls, then caught Alex Cremeans looking after a walk to Hatcher to end the inning.
He stranded Copley at first after walking him with two out in the second.
Warden came out after 40 pitches and will be available to pitch on Saturday.
Meadows took over in the third and Huntington was unable to get a runner into scoring position until the sixth. Meadows struck out five over his first three innings, and Huntington got its first hit in the fifth — a single by Copley, who was erased on a rundown after trying to steal second.
Huntington finally got on the board in the sixth when Goad doubled and scored one out later on a single by Cornwell.
Beckley got the run back in the bottom half on back-to-back doubles by Cole Cunningham and Warden.
Meadows finished off the game, striking out five and walking four while allowing three hits and two earned runs.
The teams are scheduled to meet again Saturday at noon. If Huntington wins, a third and decisive game would be played at 4 p.m.
If the day is rained out, the teams will play Sunday at 1 p.m.
Email: gfauber@register-herald.com; follow on Twitter @gfauber5
