Shady Spring 8-10 All-Stars head coach John Winkler was quite calm Tuesday night after his team dropped a tough 8-3 decision to Jefferson.
Knowing his team would face a win-or-go-home scenario Wednesday against St. Albans, Winkler confidently said, “We just have to get back to what we have been doing all year. Get back to hitting the ball in the gaps.”
Shady Spring lead-off man Cash Boggs must have been listening in the background because he was absolute money in the biggest moments.
Driving in six runs on two hits, Boggs sparked Shady Spring to a 17-7 win over St. Albans sending Shady to the four-team single elimination tournament Thursday at 6 p.m. at Sophia Little League Affinity Field.
Boggs walked to open the contest and eventually scored on a wild pitch to give a Shady Spring a quick 1-0 lead.
St. Albans made some noise in the bottom of the first when it moved runners to second and third with two outs, but Landrie James coaxed a fly ball to end the early threat.
Ryder Hall singled to open the Shady Spring second inning and scored on a double from Asher Pugh, but Shady was far from done.
A walk and a hit batsman loaded the bases bringing Boggs back to the plate for the second time in as many innings. The hard swinging lefty cleared the bases with a triple to give Shady a 5-0 lead.
St. Albans threatened in the third inning when an error and a single put two runners aboard with no outs. James never wavered getting the first out on a sacrifice bunt before striking out the next two batters.
All night, Shady Spring would bend a little, but would never break.
St. Albans threatened again in the third inning when it loaded the bases and scored on a one-out single from Cam Abbott.
Once again James was up to the challenge creating a fly out to himself and a liner that was snagged by second baseman Park Winkler.
Riding the momentum, Shady Spring plated three more in the fourth with Boggs doing the damage once again.
Batting with the bases loaded and two outs, Boggs ripped a single that cleared the bases for an 8-1 lead.
Shady’s ability to escape tough situations ran out momentarily in the bottom of the fourth inning, however, when two errors, two walks, two hits batsman and a pair of fielder’s choice ground balls led to a five-run inning for St. Albans.
The Kanawha County visitors threatened again in the fifth inning moving two runners in scoring position, but a ground out and a strikeout quickly stopped the momentum.
Shady then put the game on ice by exploding in its final at-bat, pushing nine runs across thanks in large part to three doubles.
Case Meador doubled home the first run before Cohen Thomas doubled home three more and Grayson Walls added a two-RBI double.
Shady Spring will play Hedgesville at 6 p.m. Thursday on Field 2, while Jefferson and Bridgeport will battle on Field 1 at the same time.
The championship game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Thursday.
