Baserunning mistakes foil Glass against GW

Youth was on display Tuesday night in a Western Valley District baseball skirmish between E.C. Glass and GW-Danville, an agonizing 6-5 loss for the host Hilltoppers.

The Eagles (10-3, 2-2 WVD), who feature five sophomores, committed five errors in the field, leading to four of Glass’ five runs.

The Hilltoppers (3-6, 1-3), who have four freshmen and four sophomores on their 11-man roster, battled back from a 4-1 deficit to take a 5-4 lead in the fifth, scoring four runs with two outs against starting pitcher Josh Hackworth on two errors, a walk, a hit and a hit batter.

But GW reclaimed the lead with single runs in the sixth — on a rally started when Glass starter James Gaines hit ninth batter Andrew Cox (2-for-2, three runs) with a 3-2 pitch — and seventh, when reliever Harrison Scharf walked the first batter he faced, clean-up hitter Hackworth (0-for-3).

In the bottom of the seventh, with men on first and second and no outs, baserunning mistakes prevented the Hilltoppers from forcing extra innings or winning the game.

When Hackworth’s pickoff attempt skipped away from first baseman Preston Smith and rolled along the right-field fence, Glass coach Kevin Brown sent Kent Brizendine, his only senior, from second. After Cox hit Smith with a cutoff throw and Smith fired home, Brizendine slid under the tag of catcher James Feldmann, but came up inches short of the plate and was tagged out by Feldmann for the first out as he struggled to scoot through the dirt.

“Sending Kent and getting him thrown out at the plate with nobody out was a mistake,” Brown said. “He just came up short on the slide. There was a little mud and it was a little tough to get some grip.”

Still, with one out and Gaines on third after advancing from first on the play, Glass was in position to score the tying run with one out. But when Matt Taylor grounded to third baseman Christian Clifton, he caught Gaines straying too far off the bag and got him in a rundown, with Feldmann making his second putout.

“We were going to send James on the throw … to first,” Brown said. “James was drifting off the bag as the third baseman fielded the ball and as (Clifton) bobbled it a little bit, he figured he’d turn around and look at James and we were out of luck. It was a little too aggressive on my part at third base.”

The Hilltoppers had one last shot with the tying and go-ahead runners on second and third with two outs. But Hackworth fanned eighth batter Joe Wertz for his 10th strikeout, ending the threat.

“We didn’t particularly hit the ball real well today, for sure,” Brown said. “We were in a hole and couldn’t quite dig ourselves out of it in the end. This is going to sting a little bit.”

GW stayed in the district race with the road victory, albeit an ugly one.

“We played poorly enough just to win,” GW coach Wayne Shelton said. “We’re still young and we’re still learning how to win. It’s almost like we’re scared to win.”

They did execute two double steals and took advantage of a botched rundown and an RBI double by Smith to seize a 4-1 lead in the fourth. Getting production from players like Cox, who batted .340 last season but has been relegated to the ninth spot this spring, hitting around .200, also ignited the Eagles.

“Today was a good day for him,” Shelton said.

“I’m in a bit of a slump, but I’m climbing out of it,” Cox added. “I think I sparked it a little, just going out trying to win, trying my hardest. We’re excited about the win.”