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WELLSBURG -- The Madonna and Brooke baseball teams wanted to win the game, but the Blue Dons and Bruins also wanted to prepare for their upcoming regional final series.
Brooke led 1-0 going into the top of the sixth inning, however, Madonna erupted for 10 runs in the inning enabling the Blue Dons to come away with a 10-2 victory Saturday afternoon at Bruin Field.
"I'm a competitor," Madonna (24-3) head coach TJ Miller said. "Anytime there is a game, you want to win. We treated this like a postseason game. We also wanted to prepare for our next game. There is a balance there.
"All four of our main pitchers pitched today. They were on a strict pitch count. There is a balance. We treated this game like a postseason game. We also wanted to get rips and try and do different things."
All told, 14 pitchers pitched in the game. Madonna used four pitchers, while Brooke used 10.
"You want to win every game you play," Brooke (17-14) head coach Doug Costain said. "Our approach today was different. We pitched a different kid each inning. We wanted to give them some time on the mound. That was our strategy. For us, we wanted to get ready for our next game."
The Green-and-Gold scored a run in the bottom of the second to take a 1-0 lead, and the boys in the gold jerseys held the lead until the Blue Dons broke the game open in the sixth. Brooke countered with a run in the home half of the inning to complete the scoring.
"Brooke did the same thing we did," Miller said. "They switched pitchers. We came in today and we got some great reps. We still have some things we have to work on and talk about, and we do that at practice. We got some great reps today. We will learn from this. It was a good day."
Mat Geer, Madonna's third pitcher – picked up the win for the Blue Dons. Jacob Lazear started, and he pitched the first inning – striking out two and walking two. David Connors came on in relief, and he pitched the next two innings, striking out two and walking three. Geer came on in the fourth, and he pitched the next three innings en route to the win. Geer struck out one while not walking a batter. Reed Wilharm came on in the seventh and finished the game. Wilharm had one strikeout and no walks.
Six of Brooke's 10 pitchers pitched one inning. Gino Provenzano -- Brooke's seventh pitcher of the game -- was saddled with the loss.
Henry Anderson started the game, and he pitched the first inning. He struck out two and walked none. Andrew Murdock pitched the second inning. Murdock did not record a strikeout or issue a walk. Nikos Palavis pitched the third, striking out two while walking none. Aidan Lathem came on to pitch the fourth. He struck out one and walked one. Gavin Kuchinski pitched the fifth. He did not record a strikeout while walking one. Garrett Moore came on to pitch the sixth. Moore did not record a strikeout while walking one. Provenzano came on in relief of Moore, who did not record an out. Provenzano did not record a strikeout while walking four in 2/3 of an inning of work. Blaine Beatty
relieved Provenzano with two outs in the sixth. He did not record a strikeout or walk a batter in his 1/3 of an inning of work. Dustin Engle started the seventh inning on the mound. He did not record a strikeout while walking one before leaving the game after being hit by a batted ball. Engle did not record an out. Tyson Klick came on in relief, and Klick finished the inning. He struck out one and walked one.
"We hope he is OK," Costain said. "He's a freshman. He's going to get checked out. It's tough."
The visitors outhit the hosts, 10-7. All 10 of Madonna's hits were singles, while Brooke recorded two extra-base hits – a double and a home run.
For the Blue Dons, Wilharm contributed two singles and three RBI, Maddox Bowen, Kaiden Wells, Brayden Miller, Lazear and Geer all tallied a single and an RBI and Connors collected a single.
"I have a lot of respect for Brooke," Coach Miller said. "I appreciate them having us over for this game. I am proud of my team. They stepped up. We played well for seven innings. This will prepare us for the regional tournament."
For Brooke, Moore recorded a double and a solo home run over the fence in left, Palavis produced a single and an RBI and Ty Sperringer, Murdock, Provenzano and Lathem all delivered an RBI.
Moore's home run came in the sixth.
"Everybody pitched on the mound, and we had good at-bats," Costain said. "We saw some quality pitchers. Madonna has a quality pitching staff. This will prepare us for the regional tournament."
Madonna – the No. 1 seed 0 is scheduled to play No. 2 seed Cameron at 5 p.m. today at home at Bowman Field in Game 1 of the West Virginia Class A Region 1 Finals. Game 2 will be played Wednesday down at Cameron. If necessary, Game 3 will be played back at Bowman Field.
Brooke -- the No. 1 seed -- is slated to play No. 2 seed Fairmont Senior at 6 p.m. today at home in the West Virginia Class AAA Region 1 Finals. Game 2 will be played Wednesday down at Fairmont Senior. If necessary, Game 3 will be Thursday back at Bruin Field.
Madonna 10, Brooke 2
Madonna 000 00 (10) 0 – 10 10 1
Brooke 010 00 1 0 – 2 7 3
MADONNA (24-4): Lazear (1IP, 2K, 2BB), Connors (2IP, 2K, 3BB), Geer WP (3IP, 1K, 0BB), Wilharm (1IP, 1K, 0BB) and Wells. Lazear S, RBI; Bowen S, RBI; Connors S; Geer S, RBI; Wells S, RBI; Wilharm 2S, 3RBI; Miller S, RBI.
BROOKE (17-14): Anderson (1IP, 2K, 0BB), Murdock (1IP, 0K, 0BB), Palavis (1IP, 2K, 0BB), Lathem (1IP, 1K, 1BB), Kuchinski (1IP, 0K, 1BB), Moore (0IP, 0K, 1BB), G. Provenzano LP (2/3IP, 0K, 4BB), Beatty (1/3IP, 0K, 0BB), Engle (0IP, 0K, 1BB), Klick (1IP, 1K, 1BB) and A. Provenzano. Murdock S; G. Provenzano S; Moore D, HR, RBI; Sperringer S; Lathem S; Palavis S, RBI.