When Blacksburg knocked off Hidden Valley at Titan Field early in the regular season, it was pitching, defense and consistent hitting that led the Bruins.
Wednesday afternoon in the Conference 32 baseball semifinal at Hidden Valley, the Bruin bats stayed at home.
Riding a stellar 2-hitter by Hidden Valley starter Tyler Brogan over 6 2/3 innings, the Titans advanced to a guaranteed spot in the regional playoffs next week, defeating Blacksburg 2-0.
“It’s nice to get this win,” Hidden Valley head coach Randy Boone said after getting his first playoff win since taking over as Hidden Valley’s program this season. “Now, we don’t have to worry about what happens later this week (in the conference finals). We want to win ’em all, but this win gives us more options.”
Blacksburg starter Jake Verneil was also impressive on the hill for the Bruins, getting the tough-luck loss while giving up only 6 hits.
Verneil was cruising until Hidden Valley mounted a two-out rally in the bottom of the third.
Nic Elder got things started with a double and, after a walk to Cody Boone, Hunter Boone singled as Elder barely beat the diving tag from Blacksburg catcher Ethan Goforth.
The Titans added an insurance run in the sixth after singles by Nate Atkins and Luke Marston put runners at first and second. DH Tommy Schmitt then followed with a single to center that scored Atkins after a slight bobble by the Bruins’ outfielder ………
Brogan went to the final inning after only allowing an infield single to Jake Schirmer in the Bruin third and a single to Goforth in the Blacksburg fourth that gave the Bruins their best scoring opportunity when runners reached second and third.
Brogan looked to be heading to a complete game effort when he retired the first two Bruin batters in the seventh, but Verneil bunted his way to first when Brogan threw into the baserunner for an error and Schirmer walked to put the tying runs on base.
That brought Randy Boone to the mound with the hook, bringing in Elder to finish the job. Elder needed only three pitches to get Tyler Davis to ground out to second for the final out.
“I was feeling fine, but with Nic behind me it was the right decision,” Brogan said of being pulled after throwing 95 pitches. “Today, I was focused on throwing strikes and pounding the zone. I had worked on my change-up to get ready for this game. It’s always great to beat a team and pick up a win. It could have been a complete game, but I rushed the throw on the bunt.”
“It was the right thing to do and I didn’t want to regret leaving Tyler out there,” Randy Boone said of pulling his starter. “Their lineup had already seen him a couple times.It was great for Tyler to go that long.”
“In the earlier game here, we had defense, pitching and hitting,” Blacksburg assistant coach Tracy McCoy pointed out. “Today, we had pitching and defense, but couldn’t get the bats going. We have a lot of young players that make the future look good.”
Bill Turner
