Stories

STAB baseball edges Fork Union

Photo by Bart Isley

St. Anne’s-Belfield’s Will Hass was in a little bit of trouble but with one swing of the bat in the top of the seventh, the Saints got a game clinching 2-1 win thanks to a double play on a line drive back to Hass.

 

“That was a great team win where everybody just fought through it,” said STAB coach Brian Yeagle. “That was good stuff all around, a good gritty win before we head into the Easter week and get ready for the home stretch. We’re excited about.”

 

Fork Union led the seventh off with a single from pinch hitter Cameron Hill. Then after a walk and passed ball, the Blue Devils had runners on the corners with no outs. But Hass did himself a huge favor striking out the next batter he faced, his seventh of the night. Then with the tying run just 90 feet away on third, Hass came up with the 1-3 double play to wrap up the win.

 

“With this defense behind me, I knew if I got that first out we could turn a double play and get out of here,” Hass said. “And then it just happened. Got an easy line drive and it was an easy throw over to first.”

 

Offensively, STAB was opportunistic early with Jack Pausic delivering an RBI double to score Hass in the top of the first. The Saints then made it 2-0 in the second when Jackson Mullins drew a walk, was plated by a groundout from Van Spinelli.

 

“We definitely had to jump out early because (Grabeel) really settled in,” Yeagle said. “We got just enough done there to come away with the win.”

 

From there, it was a battle between the arms with Hass and Jacob Grabeel put together a pair of quality outings. Grabeel worked out of a pair of jams in the fourth and fifth innings, leaving five runners stranded in the process.

 

“He threw well today and after the first inning the ball was down, he was throwing all his pitches for strikes and then the defense played well behind him,” Carter said. “If he pitches seven games you’re going to get at least six really good ones. We just need to hit for him and that’s something he’s not been getting.”

 

Fork Union plated its lone run against STAB in the fourth with Zach Pace hitting a leadoff double and Luke Wilson coming up with an RBI single to cut things to 2-1.

 

“We thought we were going to pull one out because I thought we were hitting the ball solidly, better than we had been the last week and a half” said Fork Union coach Rodney Carter. “But we just couldn’t get that extra hit that we needed.”

 

On the day, Grabeel finished with a complete game and six hits and one walk. Hass picked up the complete game victory, striking out seven batters and giving up just five hits and two walks.

 

“I just was hitting my spots, something I was trying to do all night,” Hass said. “It was an awesome game and Jacob’s a great pitcher too, headed to Bridgewater. Pitch for pitch, those are the games pitchers love. You’ve got to show your best because the other guy is too.”

 

Fork Union travels to Collegiate on Tuesday while STAB hits the road with Christchurch, also on Tuesday.

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