Oak Hill – Anytime Beckley and Oak Hill clash, it’s a big game.
Wednesday night at Jerry Epperly Field there was more than pride on the line when the two old rivals met in a regular season showdown with postseason implications.
Needing a win to move one step closer to home field advantage in the upcoming Region 3, Section 2 tournament, the Red Devils handed the ball to pitching ace Jayden McClain.
The sophomore hurler was up to the challenge.
Allowing just one run along with three hits, McClain went the distance striking out nine batters in a 6-1 win.
“I felt good out there. I had my fastball working along with my curveball. I was able to throw strikes consistently and get ahead in a lot of counts,” McClain said. “I just did the best I could tonight and tried to do anything I could to help the team.”
The importance of the win was not lost on Oak Hill head coach Matt Boyd.
“This was game we had to win and that is why I threw Jayden. They are good team, but it all started with Jayden. He threw well and only walked one batter,” Boyd said. “When he gets the ball on the mound that is kind of what we expect out of him. He is our ace and that is what he is capable of. I was proud of him. He threw one of the better games he has thrown all year.”
McClain’s day started rough with an error on a ground ball from lead-off man Connor Mollohan. A sacrifice bunt and a single from Danny Dickenson put McClain in an early 1-0 hole.
The young pitcher never seemed phased by the early miscue.
“I just kept my head in the game. It was still a 0-0 ballgame in my head,” McClain explained. “I wanted to keep consistently pitching strikes to hitters and make sure we got some outs.”
Oak Hill helped its pitcher by scoring three runs in the home half of the first inning.
Zane Wolfe singled to get the inning started and promptly swiped second. A throw to first base to get the next batter on a dropped third strike moved Wolfe to third where he scored on Braxton Hall’s infield single.
With Hall standing on second after a passed ball, a bizarre play kept the inning alive for Oak Hill.
What looked to be a routine fly ball turned into a double for McClain when the oncoming outfielder slipped down in the wet grass.
The play would prove costly for Beckley.
Hall beat the throw home on Jacob Ward’s grounder before Braylan Thomas lifted a sac fly scoring the third run of the inning for Oak Hill.
McClain’s response to his team giving him the lead was a quick second inning where he struck out the side.
Oak Hill then added two more runs on an RBI-single from Wolfe and a sacrifice fly later from McClain for a 5-1 lead.
The Red Devils only collected six hits on the night, but five came in the first two innings to stake McClain to a solid lead.
“When we did put the ball in play, we took advantage of some mistakes they made. We started out early swinging the bat and then I thought we got sort of complacent and put it in cruise control some,” Boyd said. “That is kind of how we have been this year. It is what it is, but hopefully we will come out of that some by sectional time.”
After scoring the opening frame, the Flying Eagles collected only two hits over the final six innings and only had two runners reach second base.
“You can’t take anything away from their pitcher. The McClain kid is tough. He is going to throw strikes and he is not going to walk you,” Woodrow Wilson head coach J.P. Stevens said. “If you get behind, his curveball is good enough. I think the three hits is more credit to him than towards us.”
Oak Hill has another key sectional clash Friday when it hosts Greenbrier East who it beat earlier in the season in Fairlea.
Woodrow Wilson is scheduled to travel to Greenbrier East Wednesday.
