ON THE BUMP — Madonna starting pitcher Reed Wilharm delivers against Cameron during Game 1 of the Class A Region 1 Championship Series Tuesday at Bowman Field. Wilharm tossed six innings and the Blue Dons won, 8-5, for a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series. - Andrew Grimm

That was certainly the case for the Madonna baseball team on Tuesday. 

The No. 1 ranked Blue Dons did not have their best game — far from it — mustering just three base hits and having a couple uncharacteristic errors in the field during Game 1 of the Class A Region 1 Championship Series. They still left Bowman Field with a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series, fending off No. 2 Cameron for an 8-5 victory. 

“You always want to get the first one and be in the driver seat,” Madonna head coach TJ Miller said. “Getting up 1-0 is nice, but you can’t get complacent. We just talked about staying hungry and being ready to go earn it. This was not our best game, but we grinded it out and got a W. I don’t care if we win by one, or 10, as long as we find a way this time of year.

“Rain was forecast the whole day and we got to play, the field was in great shape. Big thanks to the guys from the city that did a great job and let us get this game in.”

Madonna third baseman Matt Geer makes a throw to first for an out after fielding a ground ball during Tuesday’s regional game against Cameron. - Andrew Grimm

While Madonna only managed three hits, two of them came from David Connors — and both were massive. He cranked a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning for a quick 2-0 lead, then later added a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the fourth that pushed the Madonna (25-4) lead to 6-0. He finished the day with four RBIs. 

“David Connor was on fire at the plate today,” Miller said. “We did not have our best day at the plate, we had a long talk about things we need to approach differently going forward, but we got some timely hits and these guys are grinders, I have complete confidence in them.”

The Dragons (20-13), though, were not going to go away quietly. Trailing 6-0 through five, Cameron got on the board in the top of the sixth with an RBI single from Kason Angel and an an RBI groundout from Zayde Long, then got even closer when back-to-back Blue Don errors with two outs plated another run instead of ending the threat. 

Matt Geer’s two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the sixth gave the Dons a little more breathing room going to the top of the seventh, and it turned out they almost needed it. 

Billy Patterson led off the top of the seventh with a double, then a Soler Reed single and a walk loaded the bases with no one out and forced Madonna ace Reed Wilharm (6-plus innings, eight strikeouts) to exit. 

Madonna second baseman David Connors throws the ball in after tracking down a blooper in shallow center field during Tuesday’s regional game. - Andrew Grimm

Kason Angel then drew a base-loaded walk, and Anthony Bellanco singled in another run to cut the margin down to three with one out, but Geer fired back-to-back strikeouts, both looking, to end the contest without any more drama. 

“We talked after the game and we think between walks, errors and hits, we gave them 14 bases and they scored eight runs off those 14, we have to cut those down, we have to cut the mistakes down,” Cameron head coach Adam Angel said. “There a couple times we needed to execute and we didn’t, we have to be able to execute in those key situations. We made some uncharacteristic errors and you can’t do that against a team like Madonna, they’ll beat you every time if you do.”

The Dragons committed four errors in the game, had two runners caught stealing and did not get a run out of having runners on second and third with one out when it was still a 2-0 game. 

Weather permitting, Game 2 of the best-of-three series is slated for today at Cameron. Game 3, if needed, would be back at Bowman Field on Thursday. 

“We’re in the driver seat, but we know they aren’t going to make it easy, we know Cameron is going to be clawing and fighting to stay alive,” Miller said. “We have to show up ready to go and be ready to earn it.”

WVSSAC Class A tournament

Region 1 Championship Series

(Best-of-three)

Game 1 at Edwin J. Bowman Field

No. 1 Madonna 8, No. 2 Cameron 5

(Madonna leads 1-0)

C 0-0-0 0-0-3 2 – 5 9 4

M 2-0-0 4-0-2 x – 8 3 2

CAMERON (20-13): Long (LP, 3 2/3IP, 6R, 5ER, 2H, 2K, 7BB), Evans (2 1/3IP, 2R, 0ER, 1H, 3K, 2BB) and Bellanco. Patterson D; Reed 2S; Starcher 3S; Angel S, 2RBIs; Bellanco S, RBI; Evans S.

MADONNA (25-4): Wilharm (WP, 6-plus IP, 5R, 4ER, 8H, 7K, 2BB), Geer (SV, 1IP, 0R, 1H, 3K, 1BB) and Wells. Connors HR, D, 4RBIs; Geer S, 2RBIs; Lazear RBI; Grishkevich RBI.