OAKLAND — Baseball games are frequently decided by which squad makes fewer mistakes, and Southern’s first inning to forget put Allegany in the catbird seat.
Six of Allegany’s first seven batters reached safely, and the lone hit was an infield single. Four walks, a hit batsman and three errors set the stage for Eston Powell to rope a two-RBI double, and before Southern lifted a bat it faced a 5-0 deficit.
Allegany added insurance runs in four of the final six innings, and its relief duo of Powell and Trevin Cox allowed the fourth-ranked Campers to hold on and defeat Southern, 10-5, on Wednesday.
“It’s definitely good to get a win after we went through the struggles there,” Allegany manager Jon Irons said. “We put two in a row together. That’s obviously a positive.
“Still have some things we’ve got to clean up. We’re not playing a totally clean game at this point, and that’s our goal by the time we roll in the playoffs. We’re moving in the right direction, but we’re not there yet.”
Allegany improved to 8-5 overall and 3-2 in the Western Maryland Athletic Conference. The Campers are 2-0 since dropping four straight and five of six prior to their win 4-3 over Broadfording on Friday.
Southern’s third consecutive loss drops it to 6-7 (2-5 WestMAC).
Three hitters recorded multi-hit games for Allegany, which out-hit Southern, 12-6. Powell was 2 for 4 with two RBIs, Cole Ricker singled twice, scored twice and swiped two bases, and Max Fradiska had a pair of base knocks.
Southern’s Reece Tasker belted an opposite-field solo home run over the right-field fence as part of a 2 for 3 day. Andy McCartney went 2 for 4 with a double.
The Rams’ arms walked just one batter after the first inning, but their defense committed six errors.
“The game’s really hard when you give the other team more outs because you don’t catch the ball, throw the ball or hit the ball,” Southern skipper Hayden McLaughlin said. “It’s tough when we play ourselves into holes.”
Southern started to dig out of its self-inflicted ditch after Tasker’s homer in the third pulled it to within three, and it trailed 8-5 entering the seventh inning.
That’s when Allegany benefited from a two-out error on a grounder struck by Liam Buck that netted a pair of insurance runs.
They were runs Cox didn’t need, however, as the right-hander retired Southern in order — aided by a caught stealing by Buck after a lead-off walk.
Powell was the winning pitcher, allowing two runs on three hits in 3 1/3 innings of middle relief. The right-hander struck out four and walked two.
Cox, a RHP, recorded a six-out save, striking out four and walking one across two no-hit frames of work.
“For the most part, we pitched pretty well today,” Irons said. “Our relievers did a nice job coming in and doing what they needed to do.”
Right-hander Ryan Bird was tabbed with the loss for Southern.
Left-hander Cade Leader pitched 2 1/3 solid innings in relief, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits with three strikeouts and no walks.
Righty Hayden Williams followed with 4 1/3 strong frames of work, allowing three unearned runs on seven hits. He fanned three and walked one.