Elite 8: Lynchburg-Clay advances to regional finals as they defeat Valley

The Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs are headed to the Elite 8 as they gained a one-run win on Wednesday afternoon in the Division V Regional Semifinals by defeating the Valley Indians by a 4-3 score, securing a spot in the regional finals for the first time in program history. 

The Mustangs (22-3) also have tied the program record for wins in a season with 22, according to those very familiar with the baseball program, and by doing so will face the St. Clairsville Red Devils at 5 p.m. at Marietta College. 

On Wednesday at Marietta, the Mustangs started the game strong with a four-run performance in the bottom of the first inning, taking a 4-1 lead. Even with the Indians scoring the first run of the game, it was the Mustangs who fought back after allowing a rare run to be scored to take the lead and never relinquish it. 

The Mustangs began their scoring in the bottom of the first inning with a one-out bunt single by Braedon West, on a 2-2 count, followed by a single off the bat of Cole Wells as West scored a run, tying the game at 1-1. West advanced to third base on the throw to first on his bunt and scored on the aforementioned single by Wells. 

Next, the Mustangs took the lead by a 2-1 score when Christian Flowers hit a ground ball to the shortstop, scoring Wells from second base as Wells previously stole second base during the at-bat. Following a balk by the Valley pitcher, moving Flowers to second, a single from Quin Wells moved Flowers to third base. 

From there, after the second out was recorded, Cody Bell reached first base on an error, scoring Flowers for a 3-1 lead and advancing Quin Wells to third base with two outs. Quin Wells stole second base and went to third on the same sequence, as the pickoff at first base was misplayed. Wells then scored on a passed ball for the three-run lead at 4-1. 

“We came into this game expecting to face a different arm, but we still felt good about our odds even after trailing after the top of the first inning,” LCHS head coach James Flowers said. “We take the approach to win every innings, and even though they scored first, our guys spread the hits around today as we are used to producing from the top of the line to the bottom of the order.

“We know the further we go into the tournament, the hitting might be less because the pitching get better, so having different guys step up is what we’ll need moving forward.”

After the 4-1 first inning, Valley tried to chip away at the Mustangs’ lead with a run in the top of the third and another run in the fourth inning, but LC’s pitching and defense did their job and kept the Indians from scoring any other runs after their third run of the game. 

For the game, the Mustangs totaled seven hits and committed two errors, while Valley finished with seven hits and one error. 

Bell led LCHS with a 2-for-3 game at the plate with one RBI. Josiah Burns went 1-for-3, while West finished 1-for-1 with one run and a hit by pitch. 

LCHS also had a hit from Cole Wells, as he finished 1-for-2 with a run, one RBI and a walk. Flowers finished 1-for-3 with a run and RBI. The Mustangs also had Quin Wells go 1-for-3 with a run. Tanner Roberts forced a walk in the win. 

Steals by Lynchburg-Clay were made by Bell with three, while Cole Wells, West and Quin Wells each had one steal. 

Wells in his winning effort on the mound pitched a complete seven-inning game on short rest (he last pitched on Thursday, May 29 in the district final at Ohio University) allowing three earned runs on seven hits, two HBP and no walks with five strikeouts. Wells threw 89 pitches, 66 for strikes. 

“Cole was on short rest, but he competed and battled the entire game,” Flowers said. “He just kept battling, and though he was without his best stuff, he threw 89 pitches and he did what he needed to do. I was proud of his effort.”

Flowers talked about his seniors and all the work they’ve put into the program over the past four years, and now they are having success. 

“I spoke to another fellow coach about playing younger players and taking their lumps and how now we are reaping the rewards from the punishment they took as freshmen and sophomores,” Flowers said. “We have nine seniors, and I’ve known many of them since they were 5 and 6 years old, so seeing them do what they are doing is special.”

The Mustangs are excited for Thursday as they are ready to compete on the baseball diamond once again. 

“We are super excited for a chance to punch a ticket to Akron next week,” Flowers said. “We know we have to be competitive, but we’ve talked about our goals all season and we’ve achieved them, so we’ve refocused our goals and this team wants more. I couldn’t be more proud of this team.”

BOX SCORE
VHS    101 100 0 — 3 7 1 
LCHS    400 000 x — 4 7 2 

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