KEYSER, W.Va. — Noah Broadwater didn’t have his best stuff, but he gave Potomac Valley a chance and his offense came through.
After trailing Fort Cumberland 4-1 early, Potomac Valley outscored Post 13, 5-1, the rest of the way, taking the lead for good with a three-run rally in the fourth that began with a Cam Lynch solo home run and ended with an error.
Broadwater battled through six-plus innings, Tyson Arnold drilled a two-run home run and Uriah Cutter picked up a two-pitch save to lift Potomac Valley to a 6-5 victory over Fort Cumberland on Friday at Keyser High School.
“I really liked how we kept our composure,” Potomac Valley manager Jeff Broadwater said. “We’ve done that a couple games in a row. Got down early. … They cleaned it up as the game went on. Kept hitting the ball.”
The victory gave Potomac Valley (11-8) some revenge for a 7-3 loss to Fort Cumberland (10-6) on June 13 at the Cumberland Fairgrounds.
In that contest, Fort Cumberland rode home runs by Parker Ferraro and Landon McAlpine to the finish line. Potomac Valley returned the favor on Friday.
Arnold’s two-run shot to right field trimmed Potomac Valley’s deficit to 4-3 in the second, and Lynch’s opposite-field solo homer to nearly the same spot cut Post 13’s lead to 5-4 in the fourth.
Trailing 5-4, Potomac Valley had runners on second and third in the fourth, and Jacob Nething bounced a groundout to shortstop Bryce Madden, who threw across the diamond to McAlpine at first base for the second out.
Potomac Valley’s JJ Charlton broke for home on the play, and McAlpine’s throw got behind the Post 13 catcher to allow the tying and go-ahead runs to score.
Fort Cumberland put the tying run on first base with one out in the seventh inning when Noah Broadwater walked Bryce Madden — and it was also Broadwater’s final batter after hitting his 105-pitch limit.
Post 13 manager Brian McAlpine stole Madden one batter later, and Potomac Valley catcher Logan Rotruck threw him out at second.
The Potomac Valley reliever walked a batter on four pitches and started the next man with a 2-0 count, and Cutter entered to try and get the final out.
The right-hander pitched a groundout to third for the save.
“Very dumb,” coach McAlpine said of the decision to steal Madden. “I have my two best hitters coming up. That’s my aggressive nature. I apologized to the guys. We should’ve left that inning with a tie ball game at least.”
Fort Cumberland’s generally reliable defense let down starter Landyn Ansel.
The right-hander allowed six runs over four innings, but just one was earned after three Post 13 errors.
One batter before Arnold’s two-run blast, Ansel should’ve gotten out of the inning unscathed before it was prolonged by a two-out error.
Post 64’s first run also originally reached base on an error.
“Uncharacteristic,” coach McAlpine said. “I’d rather see the errors now than down the road, but I don’t want to see them at all.”
Broadwater struggled to locate his fastball at times Friday but bore down after allowing four runs in the first two innings. The Keyser grad earned the win allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings with six strikeouts and one walk.
Lynch was 2 for 3 with two RBIs, and Arnold also drove in two runs on his home run.
Both home runs were lifted to the opposite field, showing Potomac Valley’s approach to use all fields.
“A lot of these kids coming out of high school, they want to pull everything,” coach Broadwater said. “We work on that every practice. Take it the other way. Take what the pitcher gives you, and that was two prime examples.”
Ansel went 2 for 2, and Landon McAlpine and Carson Bradley both hit safely and drove in two runs each.
Kohen Madden pitched two scoreless innings of two-hit ball in relief for Post 13. He struck out one.
Ansel gave up just one hit through three innings, but the middle of Potomac Valley’s offense got to the right-hander their second time through the line-up in the fourth.
“I wanted to see how many innings I can take Ansel, and I think I went one inning too many,” coach McAlpine said. “Looking forward, I want to see how many innings I can keep pitchers in and get an idea of my rotation.”
Potomac Valley is back in action against another regional squad Saturday, as it hosts Garrett County Post 71/208/214 in a doubleheader at 11 a.m.
Fort Cumberland hosts Garrett County on Monday at 6 p.m.
“I don’t know that we were as focused as we should’ve been,” coach McAlpine said. “Before the game, there was a lot of carrying on. Late getting infield done. That’s no excuse, they played good ball.”