It hasn’t been a great past few days for the Bradford High baseball team.

After suffering a five-inning, 12-0 loss to St. Marys on Friday, the Owls were scheduled to play against Otto-Eldred at the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Saturday in Cooperstown, N.Y. Unfortunately, that game was called off on account of weather.

The sun was out on Monday, but unfortunately the result wasn’t as nice as the weather, as the Owls (8-9) fell to Elk County Catholic 5-0 at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.

ECC’s Hunter Cashmer went the distance and allowed just two hits and four walks while striking out four Bradford batters.

“We’ve got three hits in the past 12 innings and maybe one of those was half-loud,” Bradford coach Andy Carlson said. “It’s impossible to win when you play like that.”

ECC (7-11) coach Ken Vogt, on the other hand, got a much-needed quality start from his right-handed junior.

“Hunter threw well,” Vogt said. “Complete game, two hits, and he didn’t give up his first one until his 55th pitch. He just kept throwing the baseball. It’s nice when you can get a kid out here and throw you a game like this so you can save some pitchers’ arms, soak up some innings, and get a win.”

Cashmer helped his own cause to start the game, notching a two-out RBI double in the top of the first to open the scoring.

On the mound, Cashmer never allowed the Owls to get into a rhythm: it wouldn’t be until the seventh and final inning that Bradford sent more than four batters to the plate in one frame.

Carlson said his team needs to change its approach at the plate if they are ever to rediscover their hitting stroke.

“We don’t hit very many balls backside. Everybody’s up there either trying to pull,” he explained, adding, “I think we’re dead tired. I’m going to take the blame for that. We’ve maybe been playing too many games in too many days. They’re just not hitting the ball and sometimes it’s cyclical like that. Maybe in the next three days we’ll find our stroke.”

Peyton Manion got the start for Bradford, and though he had some control issues early on, he eventually settled in and put up a pair of zeroes in the second and third innings; Manion would work five innings, striking out five and allowing five walks and five hits.

“When he throws strikes, they don’t hit him very hard,” Carlson said of Manion. “He doesn’t strike out a ton of guys, but he throws strikes and gives us a chance.”

Unfortunately, Manion didn’t get much help from his defense.

With men on second and third with one out in the fourth, a routine fly ball to left became an error and allowed one ECC run to score. The Crusaders would score once more in the fourth on another Bradford miscue to make the score 3-0.

“We had three routine fly balls that turned into baserunners,” Carlson said. “Just bad baseball all around. We haven’t played well for a couple days, and if we don’t get out of it, our season’s going to be pretty short.”

Bradford finally got into the hit column in the fifth inning when Patrick Caskey ripped a single down the third base line. But a strikeout and a pair of weak groundouts ended any thoughts of a rally.

In the top of the fifth, Elk Catholic once again capitalized on a Bradford mistake, as a dropped third strike brought in a runner from third to make it 4-0. It then became 5-0 on a bases-loaded infield single by Tylor Herzing.

Despite registering just one extra base hit in the game, Vogt’s team made enough contact — or rather more than their opponents — to ride their pitcher the rest of the way.

“I think I’d rather have hits when you need ‘em than hits all day and not scoring any runs,” Vogt said. “It’s something we haven’t been able to do a lot this year, just get guys on and get ‘em in. To see that start to come around is pretty exciting. It gives us some confidence heading into playoffs.”

The Owls were able to open the bottom of the seventh with a pair of baserunners, but Cashmer was determined to complete the shutout. He did just that, setting down the next three batters in order to secure the victory.

Elsewhere, Adam Boyer pitched two innings of relief for Bradford, recording three strikeouts and allowing two hits. A single by Dan Manion in the sixth inning was Bradford’s only other base hit of the ballgame.

Bradford is scheduled to host Otto-Eldred this afternoon. If the Owls hope to get back into the win column, they will need their bats to finally reawaken.

“The game should’ve been 1-0,” Carlson said. “It’s hard to win when you don’t score.”

AT BRADFORD

        R H E

ECC       100 220 0 5 7 0

Bradford 000 000 0  0 2 2

Hunter Cashmer (4 SO, 4 BB) and Brennen Klawuhn

Peyton Manion (5 SO, 5 BB), Adam Boyer (6) (3 SO), and Caleb Nuzzo