Jul. 7—POTOMAC PARK — All Garrett County Post 71/214 starting pitcher Isaac Upole needed for a win on Tuesday was one run. Tanner Haskiell made sure he got that — and more.
Haskiell drove in four runs on a pair of hits, while Upole did the work on the mound with a complete-game two-hitter, recording 11 strikeouts while walking three as Post 71/214 topped Fort Cumberland Post 13, 9-0, under the lights at Memorial Field.
Upole finished three over the minimum batters faced — he retired the side from the second through the fifth inning.
He got a pair of strikeouts in the second and let his defense record the first two outs in the third before ending it on a comebacker.
Cumberland got its first hit of the contest to lead off the fourth on a single through the left side by Darian Bauer, but Upole got a double play and a strikeout to end the inning before striking out the side in the fifth.
Upole faced four batters in the first, sixth and seventh innings.
Bauer and Wes Athey drew back-to-back walks with one out in the first, but Upole got a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Bradyn Speir hit a two-out single in the sixth, but Upole got a fielder’s choice to end that frame, and in the seventh, Upole overcame a leadoff walk by striking out the next three batters to end the game and earn a shutout victory.
The Garrett County offense got going in the second inning after Isaac Bittinger reached on a dropped third strike and was sacrifice bunted to second by Mason Brenneman. Post 71/214 tallied four runs before Cumberland recorded another out.
Will Moon put runners at the corners with a hard-hit ball through the left side, followed by an RBI single through the other side of the infield by Jamison Warnick.
Haskiell kept it going with a two-run triple on a liner that took a few hops before reaching the fence in left-center.
Jake Rush made it a 4-0 game when he punched an inside pitch down the left field line for an RBI single.
After a single by Zach Hallenbeck and a hit-by-pitch to Upole loaded the bases, Fort Cumberland starting pitcher Athey induced a line drive to Bauer at shortstop, who made a diving play for the second out before tossing to second base to double up the runner and end the inning.
Brenneman and Moon drew one-out walks in the third before a fielder’s choice from Warnick put runners at the corners with two outs — it set up Haskiell for a two-RBI double to the gap in left-center, making it a 6-0 ballgame.
Garrett County loaded the bases again in the fifth, as Upole helped his own cause with a two-out, three-run double over the center fielder’s head to put the score at its final.
Post 71/214 pounded out 11 hits, with Haskiell, Upole, Warnick, Moon and Hallenbeck all tallying a pair of hits.
Bauer was 1 for 2 with a walk for Cumberland, while Speir went 1 for 3 and Athey drew a pair of walks.
Lyle Baker pitched a perfect final two innings for Post 13, yielding no hits or walks on 24 pitches.
The two teams will play each other again on Thursday in a doubleheader at Garrett College.
Garrett County Post 71/214 (8-1) then travels to Elkins, West Virginia, on Saturday for a doubleheader — it plays Moundsville at 1 p.m. before playing Elkins later in the day.
Fort Cumberland Post 13 (2-3) will go back to Garrett College on Saturday for an afternoon doubleheader with the Pen-Mar WV League’s Appalachian Aces.
Kyle Bennett is a sports reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @KyleBennettCTN.