It’s said that beating a team three times in the same season is one of the toughest things to do in sports.
The Bradford Legion baseball team proved it is the real deal after beating St. Marys for the third time in four games this season, winning the Elk County Legion Baseball League title in the process with a 3-1 victory Tuesday evening at Pitt-Bradford.
Bradford, like it has all season, relied on its stingy pitching staff, which has a season earned run average hovering under 2.00.
After Garren Black loaded the bases in relief of starter Gavin Babcock, who pitched four innings and recorded two strikeouts, one walk, one run and five hits, Bradford head coach Brian Fox was left with a conundrum. Should he continue to pitch the lefty Black or bring on another reliever to deal with the bases loaded, one-out situation?
Fox decided on moving Andrew Bacha from his second base position to the pitcher’s mound. After all, Bacha is Bradford’s “most dependable guy right now,” according to Fox.
The move paid off, with Bacha striking out St. Marys’ Bryce Bauer for out No. 2. The righty then forced Brandon Rolley to pop out to get out of the jam and preserve the two-run lead.
“Just the way Andrew has been coming in and pounding the strike zone and hitting his spots,” Fox said, “I think he was the choice to go with right there.”
After a scoreless first inning, St. Marys got on the board first when Austin Sadosky drove in Brad Dippold with a single in the top of the second. Babcock would then sit down the next two batters to get out of the inning.
In the bottom half of the inning, Gavin Babcock reached on an error and then was driven in by a Bacha single.
Bradford scored one run each in the next two innings, as John Eakin singled in Black in the third and Black reached on a fielder’s choice in the fourth scoring Garrett Babcock.
Though Bradford didn’t score its usual amount of runs, Fox was confident because of his team’s pitching staff. Gavin Babcock, Black and Bacha combined for five strikeouts, three walks and seven hits.
“I’m confident if we score minimal runs,” Fox said. “They’re a good team defensively and offensively. So our pitching once again kept us in this game.
“In the end, it came down to our defense and our pitching.”
Tim Beimel and Dan Stauffer allowed just five hits from the mound for St. Marys, but seven walks against four strikeouts and a few key defensive errors contributed to the loss.
Bradford, which is now 19-1 on the season and also won the regular season title, advances to the Region 8 tournament, which is being hosted by St. Marys with a double-elimination format.
Games are nine innings in length, which will make Bradford utilize more three-pitcher games instead of being able to get by with using just two in seven-inning games. Bradford won its first two games in the tournament last year, but then lost the next two and was eliminated.
This year, there are different expectations.
“We expect success there this year,” Fox said.
Bradford opens play Saturday with a 4 p.m. first pitch at Berwind Park against a team from Erie to be determined.
