Photo by Kim North
Wheeling’s Cody Ray works to the plate Monday night during Ohio Valley Baseball League action against Moundsville on the Wheeling University diamond at the J.B. Chambers I-470 Ballfields. The former Union Local product pitched four scoreless and hitless innings as the Cardinals defeated the Expos, 2-1. Ray pitched collegiately at Ohio Valley and Waynesburg.
ELM GROVE — Jared Jones has spent a lot of time in the batting cage lately trying to improve his swing. The former Wheeling Park High School and Fairmont State University product has been struggling to find a rhythm at the plate.
However, Monday night the Cardinals leadoff hitter couldn’t have picked a better time to break out of his recent slump as he singled, tripled and drove in two runs — both with two outs — as Wheeling (9-8) picked up a huge, 2-1, victory in Ohio Valley Baseball League action over visiting Moundsville on the Wheeling University diamond at the J.B. Chambers I-470 Ballfields.
“I’ve kind of been struggling at the plate so I’ve been working in the cage, trying to sit back and hit the pitch where it is thrown,” Jones explained of his triple. “Working on that has helped me out. I saw a fastball away, stayed back and hit it pretty solid the other way.”
With the Mountain State rivals locked in a scoreless pitcher’s duel entering the bottom of the third, Wheeling’s No. 9 hitter, Josh Schramm, legged out a slow roller up the middle for the first hit of the game for either squad. Jones then took a 1-1 pitch to the gap in right-center as Schramm hustled all the way around the bases to make it 1-0.
After the Expos (7-10) drew even in the top of the fourth, Wheeling’s same duo of Schramm and Jones came through once again in the bottom of the fifth. The left-handed hitting Schramm laced a two-out double down the line in left. Jones sent a shot to short that was too hot to handle and trickled into shallow left-center as Schramm scored what proved to be the game-winner.
“If Josh hadn’t gotten on both times, we might not have scored,” Jones said of his teammate. “That was huge for him to get on and turn the lineup over for me, but there was pressure on me to get him around, especially when he’s on first.”
Schramm praised Jones for his bat work.
“If I wasn’t the No. 9 hitter we probably weren’t going to do much, but when I get on they find a way to get me in,” he said.
The duo combined for all four Wheeling hits off hard-luck Moundsville loser Isaac Hines, who fanned six and walked just one. He threw a mere 71 pitches (50 strikes) in six frames.
Meanwhile, Moundsville could only muster up a pair of singles, both coming in the sixth when it loaded the bases with one out but couldn’t come up with anything to show for it.
“We were hitting the ball. We just get anything to drop. Everything was hanging up,” Moundsville player/manager John Santimarino said. “We hit the ball well. It just didn’t drop.”
Wheeling’s duo of Cody Ray and Ryan Hummell stymied the Expos. Ray, a former Union Local, Ohio Valley College and Waynesburg University product, worked four hitless innings. He struck out three and walked one. Hummel, who earned the win, fanned four, didn’t issue a base-on-balls while hitting one batter and permitting the three hits.
Hines broke up the no-hitter with a solid single up the middle leading off the Moundsville sixth. With one out, Russell Schwertfeger bunted for a base hit before Santimarino was hit with a 2-0 pitch to load the bases. Hummell induced a pop up to first and struck out the next batter swinging to snuff out the threat.
“You’ve got to be able to score at least one run in that situation,” Santimarino explained. “You can’t win baseball games like that.”
The Expos’ Ricky Szeligo singled with two outs in the seventh, but was forced at second to end the game.
Moundsville’s only run came with one out in the fourth as Schwertfeger drew a walk. After stealing second and going to third on a wild pitch, Santimarino struck out swinging. However, the ball squirted away, allowing Schwertfeger to race home as Santimarino ended up at second when the throw to first sailed into right field. Ray would retire the next two batters to end the threat and his day on the hill.
With the win, the Cardinals kept their hopes for the No. 2 seed alive as three-time defending champion Maynard (10-7) held serve with a 3-2 nod over No. 5 Martins Ferry in eight innings on Monday.
The regular-season comes to a close Wednesday when No. 2 Maynard travels to John Marshall High School in Glen Dale to face No. 4 Moundsville and Wheeling visits No. 1 Barton (13-5). However, there are several makeup games that might need to be played.
The No. 4 and No. 5 teams will face off in a one-game play-in to face the Braves in the best-of-3 semifinals. The No. 2 and No. 3 teams will also meet in the same format. The championship finals is a best-of-5 series.
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