Bamford deals in Leopards’ rout

By JOSE NEGRON

jnegron@yourmvi.com

Belle Vernon Area baseball coach Tony Watson saw a little bit of himself in junior pitcher Matthew Bamford Tuesday afternoon. 

Just like he did at times during his playing days at BVA and Waynesburg, Watson watched Bamford start out slow by allowing a pair of hits and a run in the top of the first inning. 

Then, the hard-throwing right-hander settled down and began to deal, tossing a complete game to lead Belle Vernon to an 11-1 victory over visiting Uniontown in Section 3-4A play. 

Bamford allowed just one run on two hits while walking one and striking out seven through six innings of work. He surrendered back-to-back doubles to Uniontown’s Hunter Chaikcic and Christian Thomas in the first, but didn’t allow another the rest of the way. Thomas’ RBI double provided the Red Raiders (0-2, 0-2) with their lone run of the game. 

“Sometimes it takes an inning or two to get the jitters out, but he threw a phenomenal game,” Watson said of Bamford, who at one point retired 11 straight batters from the third inning into the sixth. 

“His secondary pitches were working and we saw the result of a long offseason with a lot of work in the weight room and with strength and conditioning. He came in focused and battled all day.” 

Bamford had plenty of run support early as BVA (2-0, 2-0) struck for five runs in the bottom half of the first inning. 

Garrett Greco led things off by being hit by a pitch before Donovan Von Fradenburgh drew a walk to put runners on first and second. 

Uniontown pitcher Tate Musko attempted to pick off Greco, but a throw to the shortstop sailed into the outfield, allowing the BVA senior standout to score from second. 

After Andrew Sokol went down on strikes for the first out of the inning, Xander Zilka reached on a walk and Ryan Hamer drove in Von Fradenburgh with a line drive single at second baseman Aiden Martin. 

Holding on to a 2-1 lead, the Leopards extended the advantage with some heads-up baserunning as Zilka scored on a double steal with Hamer to make it a two-run game. 

Aiden Ochs added an RBI double into deep left field and Seamus Joyce followed with a run-scoring single to put the Leps in front, 5-1. 

“It takes a large strain off a pitcher’s mind when you can get them a few runs early on,” Watson said. “You can settle in, not stress as much and it leaves you the freedom to throw your offspeed pitches, too.” 

BVA’s lead grew to 6-1 in the second as Von Fradenburgh scored on a Uniontown error. Then, an RBI double by Brady Hoffman made it a six-run game prior to a four-run seventh inning that ended the game via a 10-run rule. 

In the final frame, Greco scored on an error and Hamer added an RBI single before a pinch-hit two-run single by Jake Mima sent BVA home with a two-game sweep of the Red Raiders. BVA captured a 4-2 win over Uniontown Monday. 

“We stepped up at the plate today big time,” Watson said. “We struggled to hit the outside pitch (on Monday) and we really honed in on it today. We did a great job.”

The Leopards totaled 12 hits against the Red Raiders. Hamer, Ochs and Jackson each had two-hit efforts. 

“These guys really missed that year we lost,” Watson said. “It seems like they’re funneling it in to everything we do now. They’re being aggressive at the plate and having some really good at bats.” 

After an ideal 2-0 start to the season, the Leopards will enjoy it now before refocusing on a two-game home-and-home series with West Mifflin next week. 

“The sky is the limit for these guys. They all have so much growth ahead of them and they all have high ceilings,” Watson said. “I’m just proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish the last two days.”