Monday afternoon was bounce back day for the Hidden Valley Titan baseball team.
Three days after suffering their first loss of the season in a 1-0 loss to Blacksburg, the Titans righted the ship for a 9-3 win over Southwest County rival Cave Spring at Titan Field.
The Titans looked to lefty starter Luke Marston to get back in the win column, and Marston answered the call by throwing five scoreless innings to pick up the win on the mound.
The Hidden Valley bats had mounted a 5-0 lead by the time Marston exited and the Titans held on the rest of the way despite Cave Spring making things interesting with three runs in their half of the sixth.
The Knights, after having little success against Marston’s fastball through the first five innings, found things more friendly against Titan reliever Jack Henry.
“He (Marston) was up in the pitch count to 81, so we had to go to the bullpen,” Hidden Valley head coach Jason Taylor noted afterward. “Give Jack credit. It’s tough coming in behind guys who are throwing heat. Jack is more of a control pitcher and his fast ball is 12 mph slower. Cave Spring got three runs on good hits, but Jack came through and got the final two outs in the sixth to get the job done.”
Any designs of a Cave Spring comeback was put to rest when Hidden Valley plated four runs in the bottom of the sixth to secure the final margin. Titan reliever Taylor Martin held Cave Spring scoreless in the seventh.
Hidden Valley had methodically provided Marston his cushion with single runs in the first, second and fifth to go with a pair in the fourth.
Matt Uttermark’s RBI single with two outs got the Titans on the scoreboard in the first, and Hayes Nelson two-out RBI single added a Titan run in the second. In the Titan fourth, Nelson doubled off the left field fence to drive in Sean O’Connell and moments later Walker Brand scampered home on a fielder’s choice grounder to make it 4-0. Hidden Valley tacked on another score in the fifth after Uttermark opened with a double down the left field chalk, leading to pinch runner Camden Sine scoring on a sacrifice fly by Palmer Peery.
The Cave Spring bats came to life in the sixth. Cole Flora doubled to the left field corner on Henry’s first pitch and Chase Cundiff homered deep down the left field line to make it 5-2. After Kodi McIlwraith singled, pinch runner Grant Snyder moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a hit by Brett Meyers, cutting the Knight deficit to 5-3 and bringing the tying run to the plate. But, Henry got the final out to cut short the Knight rally.
Hidden Valley loaded the bases in their half of the sixth. The Titans scored on a misplayed grounder and fielder’s choice for two runs before Nate Atkins doubled into the left field corner, scoring 2 for the final 9-3 margin.
Nelson and Uttermark each had three hits and two RBIs for Hidden Valley. Flora led Cave Spring with two hits.
The Titans improved to 9-1 (7-1 River Ridge). Cave Spring fell to 6-8; 4-4.
– Bill Turner
