BRISTOL — Any time you can get a win at Boyce Cox Field over the Bearcats it’s big. The Pioneers took a big step in earning the Southwest District regular season baseball title handing the Bearcats a 15-6 setback on Thursday.
“It was a real close game for a while,” Lebanon coach Cody Compton said. “We showed up and was kind of going through the motions and you can’t do that against good ball teams. We finally settled in and found pitches we could drive.”
Although it’s hard to tell from the final score, it was a pitcher’s duel for five innings. Lebanon lefty Dagan Barton got the nod on the bump and threw four solid innings.
“I just came out focused on throwing strikes and trusting my defense behind me,” Barton said. “I was solid for three innings, they were able to find a couple holes in the fourth. I had faith in this team the whole time, I knew we would get the win.”
With two outs in the first, Barton walked, and courtesy runner Carter Hess took his place. Hess scored on a double to right center by Eli Breeding for an early lead.
The Bearcats put the first three batters on in the fourth on perfectly placed singles to load the bases. Cody Griffith grounded out to drive in one. Bhraedon Meredith crossed the plate with the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Barton struck out two batters to limit the damage.
The score remained 2-1 until a wild sixth. Barton led off the inning with a hit up the middle. After a pop-out, Toby Baker laced a 3-2 pitch from Ollie Foy to right center for a double to tie the game. Nathan Phillips added a two-run single to right and Lebanon had the lead.
“It was a good team win,” Phillips said. “I was glad to see guys step up and do things in certain situations like Toby did. That was a great hit, just what we needed from Toby, I knew he would help us and that hit helped a lot.”
It got the wheels turning. When the dust settled, sixteen batters came to the plate with 13 runs scoring on 10 hits and five VHS errors. Phillips added a double in the inning and finished the game with three hits and four RBIs. He also threw a scoreless inning in the top of the fifth and was the pitcher of record getting the win.
Barton was also important on offense, going 4-for-4 with two RBIs and his spot scoring four runs. Breeding totaled three hits and Jake Hilton contributed two hits with a double.
“Earlier in the season I found a lot of bad luck,” Barton said. “I was hitting it right at people, the last couple weeks I’m finding holes, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it. As the season goes on you build more confidence. We’re only two weeks out from the postseason so we all have to get locked in.”
To the credit of Virginia High (8-7, 4-3), they didn’t quit. They added three runs in the sixth and one more in the seventh. Foy pitched five strong innings before running into trouble. Foy also had two hits and Devin Lathrop had two hits including a double for the Bearcats.
“It was a great ballgame, good atmosphere, great crowd, and then the sixth inning happens,” said VHS coach Adam Moore. “The floodgates opened, and we hung our heads, there is your recipe for disaster. We were in it until adversity hit in the sixth and that’s when we lost control of ourselves emotionally.
“I do credit Lebanon for that because, on the flip side, they are used to the big moments. The difference is they want to make plays and close you out. They make you pay for your mistakes.”
Lebanon (10-5, 6-0) still has four district games remaining as the regular season concludes.
“We play Marion tomorrow,” Compton said. “Next week we have three straight, with Tazewell twice and Richlands at the end of it. It will be a dogfight the rest of the way. We have to show up every night and take care of business.”