For much of the night, the W.F. West offense didn’t have an answer against Rochester’s Henry Gramelspacher.
The Bearcats were able to do enough late, however, scoring once in the sixth and once in the eighth to walk off the Warriors 2-1.
“He was lights out today,” W.F. West coach Jesse Elam said of Gramelspacher, who pitched seven innings and gave up just three hits and two runs. “He was throwing strikes and he throws hard. He hides the ball pretty well, so it kind of gets on you pretty quick.”
As impressive as Gramelspacher was for the Warriors (1-3, 0-1 2A EvCo), the duo of Miles Martin and Grady Westlund were just as dominant. The two combined to allow just five hits and one earned runs, keeping the Bearcats (5-1, 1-0 2A EvCo) in the game long enough for the offense to get runs on the board.
“Miles didn’t have his best stuff tonight, and he battled through,” Elam said. “Grady came in and did his thing, which he’s been doing.”
In the bottom of the sixth, Connor Coleman drew a walk after a dropped pop up in foul territory, and Deacon Meller brought him home with a two-out RBI double to open the scoring.
Ethan Rodriguez responded in the top of the seventh with an RBI single to tie the game.
The Warriors had the chance to take the lead in the eighth on a Gramelspahcer single to right, but Mason Ubias was thrown out at the plate trying to score.
After the first two batters drew walks to open the bottom of the second, Coleman ended it with an RBI single.
The two teams will play again on Tuesday, with the Bearcats heading to Rochester.
