West Virginia Pulls Ahead of Williamsport for Second Straight Win

The Black Bears defeated the Crosscutters on Opening Day at Monongalia County Ballpark

June 7, 2023

GRANVILLE, W.Va. – In another comeback victory, the West Virginia Black Bears beat the Williamsport Crosscutters, 6-5, on Opening Day at Monongalia County Ballpark on Tuesday night. Exactly nine months to the day since their last meeting in the MLB Draft League Championship game, West Virginia overcame the deficit in

“It was a lot of fun to get to see these guys come together as a group and have a good team win,” said Black Bears’ manager David Carpenter. “It shows that [they] are willing to stick with the grind [and] understand there’s going to be ups and downs within the game.”

The Bears found themselves in a hole early as they trailed the Crosscutters by two runs in the second inning. After Williamsport DH Jack Oberdorf tripled on a fly ball to center field, the Crosscutters hopped on the board first with a sacrifice fly by LF Joseph Sullivan that scored Oberdorf. The next at-bat, catcher Jacob Harper singled on a ground ball that trailed into left field to bring home 3B Reed Chumley. Heading into the bottom of the inning, the Black Bears trailed 2-0.

However, West Virginia surged ahead in the bottom of the third to take a 4-2 lead. Centerfielder Devin Saltiban began the rally with a ball driven deep to center field and over the outfield wall for his first home run of the season. Two consecutive walks of DH Nick Iannantone and SS Noah Fisher put two Bears on the bases for 3B Logan Kohler. With a fly ball that traveled into the maintenance yard, Kohler notched his first home run of the season and sent three runs across the plate.

Refusing to go quietly, the Crosscutters fought back with two more runs in the top of the fourth to tie the game, 4-4. With Chumley on base, Harper homered on a fly ball to center field to knot the game.

Williamsport broke away in the top of the sixth on a wild pitch by West Virginia reliever Ryan Degges to reclaim the lead. First baseman Gage Gundy stole second and third before he capitalized on a pitch that hit the backstop to go up a run. A pitching change followed, with RHP Mitch Dye relieving Degges. Dye managed to get the third out on a ground ball to Fisher to end the inning with the Bears behind by one.

It was in the bottom of the eighth that West Virginia finally gained the upper hand, for good. Cutters’ reliever Creed Watkins replaced RHP Jack Crowder to begin the home half of the inning, but after an injury, was replaced by pitcher Jacob Peaden. With Bears’ LF Aaron Jamison in scoring position, a walk and a passed ball by Harper moved Jamison 90 feet from home. A single from Saltiban pushed West Virginia ahead as Jamison and 2B Brody Fahr scored. Williamsport caught a break on the final out of the inning, but the damage was done. Heading into the final frame, the Bears led 6-5.

Cody Tucker, a newly acquired pitcher from Grand Canyon University, made quick work of the Williamsport lineup as he retired the side and shut the door on a potential rally.

Devin Saltiban led the way for the Bears with three hits, one run and three RBI in five at-bats. The recent high school graduate from Hawaii jumpstarted the West Virginia offense with his third-inning home run. Logan Kohler followed closely behind with one run, one hit and three RBI off his homer in the third. Together, Saltiban and Kohler drove in all six Black Bears’ runs.

“I was just trying to stay simple, not do too much or think about anything else,” said Saltiban. “It just came. I saw the ball really well and put the barrel on it.”

Defensively, West Virginia held Williamsport to just three hits through nine innings. Though starting pitcher Evan Brandt allowed four runs in four innings pitched, the defense continued to keep the Cutters at bay. Mitch Dye picked up his first win of the season after going 1.2 innings with no hits and two strikeouts. Tucker, who closed the game for the Bears, also recorded one strikeout in his single inning appearance.

With the win, West Virginia improves to 3-2 on the season. The Black Bears return for the second game of the three-game set on Wednesday evening for ALS Awareness Night sponsored by Mountaineer Home Medical. The first 250 fans through the gate will receive a Bears’ 2023 poster schedule, with gates opening at 5:30 p.m. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.