Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

Martin Oil struck early and they struck late. In the middle, they fell asleep. Fortunately, the pitching remained constant as Dan Graham, Dan Houser and Zach Stere combined to pitch a five-hit 8-2 triumph over Barkman Oil on Wednesday evening at Central High School in Martinsburg.
Martin Oil put three quick scores up in the top of the first inning. Houser, returning to the lineup after missing a couple of games due to illness, led off with a double. With one out, Stere singled to left to drive in Houser. Stere stole second base and advanced to third on an error on a ground ball hit by Shawn Weiand. Derrick Miller singled to bring in Stere. With runners at the corners, Weiand came home on an attempted double steal, but Miller was thrown out at second base for the second out of the inning. Cory Daly ripped a triple to right-center, but was stranded.
Although they had at least one baserunner in every inning, Martin Oil failed to get a runner past second base for the next four at bats.
“Danny Graham gave us four real solid innings tonight,” explained Martin Oil manager Ed Davis. “He has been real consistent for us all year. We got Danny Houser an inning in there tonight, trying to get lined up for the playoffs. He hadn’t pitched in awhile, had been sick for a few days. And we had Zach finish up the final two innings, to get him some more work. I was really pleased with all three of them.”
Graham tossed the first four innings to earn the win, shutting out Barkman on three hits, striking out four and walking just one. Houser pitched the fifth inning allowing one run on one hit, one walk and one hit batsman. Stere pitched the sixth and seventh, allowing one unearned run on one hit with one strikeout.
The slumbering giant woke up again in the sixth inning to score five times to take the pressure off the Martin Oil pitchers.
With one out, Daly singled and came around to score on a triple by Damion Miller. Chris Alley singled to right to score Miller. Matt Albright was safe on an error. Houser singled to right to score Alley and send Albright to third base. Andy Brisbin singled to get Albright home. Stere scored Houser with the final run with a single to center.
“Hitting wise, we hit the ball pretty good in spurts,” said Davis. “We would like to be more consistent there. Danny Houser coming back from being sick, had a couple hits and an RBI. Zach had three big hits and a couple RBIs. Cory Daly had a triple and single. Damion had a double and triple. Chris Alley had a big hit and RBI. I was pretty pleased with everything, getting lined up for the playoffs with a doubleheader coming up on Friday night.”
Martin Oil will not play tonight, with the Bellwood-Antis state championship baseball team being recognized by the Altoona Curve at Blair County Ballpark prior to the Curve-Norwich contest, which begins at 7:05 p.m. Martin Oil will conclude the regular season on Friday with two games at vets Field. The first ballgame will feature Martin Oil (16-2) against Tyrone Legion (11-10). The second game will be Martin Oil against Park Furniture with the winner securing the regular season George B. Kelley Federation league championship.
Martin Oil 8 Barkman Oil 2
Houser, cf-p-1b, 4-2-2; Brisbin, 2b, 4-0-1; Stere, 1b-p, 4-1-3; J. Graham, pr, 0-0-0; Weiand, c, 4-1-0; De. Miller, lf, 3-0-1; DeArmitt, ph, 1-0-0; Daly, ss, 3-1-2; Treese, ph, 1-0-0; Da. Miller, rf-cf, 3-1-2; McDaniels, ph, 1-0-0; Alley, 3b, 3-1-1; D. Graham, p-rf, 0-0-0; Albright, dh, 3-1-1. TOTALS 34-8-13.
BARKMAN OIL – Hazinstab, cf, 4-1-1; Weyandt, ss, 4-0-2; Zimmerman, 3b-p, 0-0-0; Lingenfelter, dh, 2-0-0; Ebersole, c, 2-0-0; Snowberger, lf, 4-0-0; Lafferty, cr-lf, 0-0-0; Weyant, rf, 3-0-1; Frederick, 2b, 3-0-0; McConnell, 1b, 3-0-0; Fether, p-3b, 2-1-1. TOTALS 27-2-5.
Martin Oil 300 005 0 8-13-1.
Barkman Oil 000 010 0 2-5-2.
2B: Houser 1, Stere 1, Da. Miller 1.
3B: Da. Miller 1.
RBI: Stere 2, Houser 1, Brisbin 1, De. Miller 1, Alley 1, Da. Miller 1, Ebersole 2.
SO: D. Graham 4, Stere 1, Fether 2, Zimmerman 2.
BB: D. Graham 1, Houser 2.
WP: D. Graham LP: Fether

By Rick