Virginia pounces early, holds Charleston scoreless in Tuesday clash

A torrid first inning for the Charleston Fighting Squirrels saw three runs cross the plate in the first frame, giving way to a 4-0 win for visiting Greater Manassas of Virginia.

Starting for Charleston, Jack Evans began his day by surrendering hits to the first three Virginia batters, falling into a deep hole immediately, but hanging in to secure a strong start for the team.

In the opposite dugout, pitcher Luke Shearin’s 5.0 innings pitched, allowing just three hits and striking out three batters secured his team the win, with an arsenal of pitches that promoted bad contact and relied on the strong fielding of Greater Manassas.

“I thought we competed after the first inning,” Squirrels coach Michael Minner said. “Anytime you're in the World Series and you give up three rounds in the first inning, it's going to be tough on you.

“Their pitcher settled in, and I didn't think we were very good at the plate tonight. We swung at a lot of bad pitches out of the zone and we got ourselves out, but give him credit. He was really good.”

Perhaps the most notable storyline of the game, however, came from the Squirrel offense, which loaded the bases twice but couldn’t record a run, including a fourth-inning line drive directly to third baseman Owen Potts, who then stepped on the bag to force a double play.

In another low-scoring game, Charleston stranded a number of runners in scoring position and found itself, once again, on the losing end of a well-operated contest defensively.

“We had guys in scoring position,” Minner said. “We lined into a double play to end an inning, and then they make a diving play up the middle with the bases loaded again. If those balls are, you know, a foot left or a foot right, it could be different. We just couldn't get the big hit tonight.”

The three-run first inevitably allowed Virginia to steal the win on Tuesday, with the two squads competing in the second day of action and looking for a critical win in the playoff race.

With an insurance tally coming in the sixth inning to make it a four-run ballgame, Virginia comfortably settled into the win after jamming the bases in the seventh and shutting down the Squirrels in the bottom half.

Charleston’s Jack Wyatt made it to Potts’ ground ball through the right side of the infield, but a throwing error allowed the runner to reach and two runs to cross for Virginia – a 2-RBI single for Potts that tied teammate Jack Dennis for the lead.

Evans hung around, staying in the game and pitching 6.0 innings before a seventh-inning pull sent in Preston VanDyke, who finished the inning without allowing a run to cross.

“It’s super cool coming out here with all these people and this big crowd – everyone's all pumped up,” Evans said. “I came out with a little bit of nerves, and I couldn't find it in the first inning. Coming out in the second, I had to remind myself that it's just another baseball game.”

After finding himself in the second inning, Evans returned to throw and recorded a final line with four hits, four walks and just two earned runs allowed. A strong number of middle innings on the mound gave the Squirrels life and a chance to rally back, with the offense eventually drawing Virginia in hits at five each, but Charleston finished scoreless in the end.

Owen Osborne’s two-hit night led the Squirrels, with Jack Wyatt, Cole Lemons and Kaeden Kennedy all notching a hit each. Kennedy drew the lone walk of the game for Charleston, while Trace Sullivan drew a hit-by-pitch to reach safely.

While the Charleston offense has reached base well for both games so far, the offense has combined for just two runs over 18 innings of play in the Babe Ruth World Series after Tuesday.

With the team facing elimination after starting 0-2 through the first half of pool play, Minner’s Squirrels are in need of some offensive identity entering their third game, this time against California at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

“We're trying to win – to find a way to win,” Minner said. “We made some plays and did some good things. Unfortunately, we fell on the wrong side of the scoreboard tonight. We’ve got to find a way to get on the right side tomorrow and give ourselves a chance to advance on Thursday.”