The Shadow
ELLISTON – Bath County’s postseason time was a quick visit as the Chargers were eliminated in the first-round of the 2024 Pioneer District baseball tournament back on May 10th following a 10-1 to Eastern Montgomery in Elliston.
BCHS began the season with a 10-9 walk-off win over Pocahontas County, but after the dramatic come from behind victory, the season went into a completely different direction as the team lost 12 straight regular season games prior to the district tournament.
In their district first-round loss to the Mustangs, EMHS was backed by a trio of pitchers; Austin Tate (W/1-for-3), Caleb Jones (2-for-2), and Coltin Conner (2-for-4), who combined to hold the Chargers to only two hits and one run. Tate, who earned the victory, struck out 11 batters in 5.1 innings on the mound.
Issac Ingram (L/0-for-2) suffered the loss on the mound for Bath County. Ingram allowed 10 runs on 10 hits in five innings, while also walking six, and struck out one. Cooper Lowry (0-2) also made an appearance and pitched one shutout inning.
Eastern Montgomery three innings where they scored all 10 of their runs. In all three of those innings, the team would score three or more runs. The big blow came in the bottom of the second inning when the Mustangs erupted for four runs. Tate, who was the winning pitcher, had helped his cause at the plate with a big two-run single that pushed the teams lead to 3-0 after EMHS had scored their first run on a ground-out. The Mustangs would add another run on an RBI single from Hunter Howard (1-for-2).
In the bottom of the third inning Eastern Montgomery grabbed RBI singles from Conner, Jones, and Cam Sutphin (2-for-4), as the Mustangs built a 7-0 advantage.
With two outs in the top of the fifth inning Bath County would get their only two hits of the game. Bransen Gordon (1-for-2) had the first hit and was followed by a single from Greyson Walton (1-for-3). However, the two-out rally was short-lived as Marc Durney (0-for-2) struck out to end the inning. It was the second time in the game that the Chargers were able to get a runner in scoring position. During the second inning, a similar situation occurred as BCHS put runners on first and second base on back-to-back walks with two outs, but they were unsuccessful in bringing in a run.
The third time would be the charm for Bath County. With two outs in the top of the sixth inning, the Chargers walked four straight times. Remmington Gordon (0-for-1) provided BCHS with the team’s lone RBI as he drew a 5-pitch walk which scored Owen Perdue (0-for-2).
Eastern Montgomery would grab three more runs in the bottom of the inning, including Conner’s second RBI single of the evening.
In the top of the seventh inning, Conner set down the Chargers in order to end the game.
The loss ended Bath County’s season at 1-13 overall as the team fell short of a regional playoff appearance.
Bath County 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 – 1 2 2
East Montgomery 0 4 3 0 0 3 x – 10 11 0
W: Austin Tate. L: Issac Ingram
