Sentinels win pitchers duel over Miners via walk off in extras

May 10—POTOMAC PARK — When a pitcher's duel lasts nine innings, one or two plays can decide the outcome.

That was the case on Thursday in the Class 1A West Region I quarterfinal.

After nine innings, Fort Hill walked off Mountain Ridge 2-1 at the Hot Stove Complex's Memorial Field.

The win marks the first postseason victory for the Sentinels (9-9) since 2019 against Hancock.

"It was a good game, extra innings thriller," Fort Hill head coach Tanner Brode said. "It was a hard fought game, hats off to Mountain Ridge. Some things just slid our way."

In the bottom of the ninth, Steven Spencer led off with a ground ball to short, just beating the throw.

Spencer stole second, and Bobby Brauer sent a grounder to third base. The throw to first sailed high, allowing Spencer to score the winning run.

"It was an excellent baseball game, both teams battled, very good pitching," Mountain Ridge head coach Justin Cook said. "They were able to score the winning run, but that could've been anyone's ball game."

The Miners (2-15) committed two errors, both in the ninth inning.

The story of the game for both offenses was the lack of success with runners on.

In the top of the first, the Miners loaded the bases with one out.

Spencer fielded a ground ball and threw home, then Jake Rice threw to first to complete an inning-ending double play to keep the game 0-0.

"This is probably our best defensive game," Brode said. "We've been trying to strive on that all year, I'm thrilled with how they played defense."

In the bottom of the second, the Sentinels also loaded the bases with one out.

Carson Bender was hit on the helmet to bring in the game's first run.

With the bases still full, a pair of fly outs kept Fort Hill's lead 1-0.

In the top of the fifth, Mountain Ridge had back-to-back hits, but a double play by Logan VanMeter at third cleared them.

"Their third baseman, VanMeter, played an outstanding game," Cook said. "Anything we hit down the third-base line, he made plays."

Lane Frost was next up and hit a line drive to right for an RBI single to tie the game at 1.

The Sentinels also had two on in the sixth, but put up another zero on the scoreboard.

"I think some of our guys are very confident in their abilities at the plate," Brode said. "Sometimes too confident, thinking they can handle just about any pitch. Thinking they got a little over zealous with some higher balls at the chest, lower balls at the knees."

Fort Hill had one more golden chance in the bottom of the seventh.

With the bases loaded and one out, a strikeout and a popup on the first pitch sent the game to extras.

"Bases loaded one out, easily could've won the game there," Cook said. "For us to get out of that was huge. I think the momentum switched there at the top of the eighth and we could've easily won the ball game."

Before the bottom of the eighth, both coaches met at home plate.

Both teams had a different pitch count for Parker Ferraro, the Miners' starter.

Brode said Fort Hill had him at 106 pitches on their chart and 104 on Game Changer, Mountain Ridge had him at 96.

Cook said the Miners had Ferraro at 97, the Sentinels had him at 104 or 105.

"With the number they had, Parker would've had to throw sub 15 each inning," Brode said. "We had three innings where we had bases loaded. I just don't see 96 being a logical pitch count."

After a discussion with the home plate umpire, Ferraro was replaced.

Bryson Krumpach took over and allowed a hit, but got a three pitch strikeout on a curveball to end the inning.

Spencer threw eight innings of one-run ball, allowing eight hits and a walk with five strikeouts.

"Steven's pitched a lot of good games, sometimes the defense hasn't been behind him," Brode said. "Today it was, so it worked out pretty well for us."

Brauer got the win, allowing one hit with no walks and a strikeout.

Four Sentinels recorded one hit each while five recorded one walk each.

Ferraro went seven innings, allowing three hits, one earned run and seven walks with eight strikeouts.

"Phenomenal, fastball was jumping," Cook said. "That's the best he's looked all season."

Ferraro and Brady Moran led Mountain Ridge with two hits each.

Fort Hill advances to the Region Semifinal on Saturday at No. 1 Allegany at 11 a.m.

"We went into this season wanting to change Fort Hill baseball," Brode said. "Change the program, change the culture. I think we made a statement this year, we're hoping to keep that momentum into next year."

Jordan Kendall is a Sports Writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Email him with scores and story suggestions at jkendall@times-news.com.