All season long, Jextin Pugh led the Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic baseball team at the plate, which he did again on Monday.
But Pugh's pitching helped pave the way to a berth in the District 6 Class A final, as the No. 2 seeded Marauders defeated No. 11 seeded Williamsburg, 5-3 at Vets Field, Monday afternoon.
"[Pugh] has pitched well for us for three years," Marauders coach Bill Wolf said. "He has done what we have expected. The thing was, we played good defense behind him."
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Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Caleb Morrissey just misses Jextin Pugh’s two-run home run.
Pugh pitched a complete game and struck out nine. After five innings, the junior had given up only two hits. At the plate, Pugh hit a two-run homer in the second inning.
"Pugh is probably one of the best pitchers we have seen all year," Blue Pirates coach Mark Welch said.
Williamsburg made things interesting in the sixth inning by scoring all three of its runs. Adam Wheland began the inning with a triple and was driven in by Adam McMonagle. McMonagle later scored on a double steal.
"We started hitting the ball," Welch said. "That is the way we have been hitting the ball over the last five games. We just didn't start the game like that. If we would have started the game like that, it could have been a lot different."
Caleb Morrissey knocked in Mike McCall on a double to round out Williamsburg's scoring.
"First five innings I was just basically using my fastballs and working in my curveball a lot," Pugh said "That's why they started hitting me toward the end. They saw my fastball all five innings. They didn't see enough off-speed pitches."
Offensively for the Marauders, Nick Johnson drove in Pat Irwin twice. Irwin scored three runs in the game.
"We left too many guys on," Wolf said. "We took too many strike threes. I wasn't really happy with that, but we got some key hits. Jextin hit that home run, and Nick Johnson had that big two-out hit for us that scored a run. I knew it was going to be a tough game."
Pugh was able to shut down the Pirates in the seventh inning by getting Jordan Rabits to ground out and Wheland to ground into a game-ending double play. Williamsburg finished the season at 9-9.
Bishop Guilfoyle (16-5) will now play Bishop McCort Friday at 4 at Peoples Natural Gas Field. The Marauders fell to Crimson Crushers, 5-3, earlier in the season.
"If we can go out throw strikes, not walk guys, play good defense and get a few key hits here and there, we have got a good chance," Wolf said.
WILLIAMSBURG (3): Wheland ss 411, McMonagle 2b p 311, Price p c 301, McCall 1b 211, McCauley 3b 301, Morrissey lf 301, Dishong c 1b 301, Rabits cf 300, Hearn rf 101, Snyder 100. Totals -25-3-6.
BISHOP GUILFOYLE (5): Irwin 2b 331, Keller ss 200, Pugh p 311, Johnson 1b 302, Pleva c 300, Krol cf 201, Sweeney dh 201, Stewart 3b 100, Adams lf 300, Cursio rf 211. Totals - 24-5-6.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Williamsburg000 003 0-3 6 2
Bishop Guilfoyle130 100 x-5 6 0
E-McMonagle 2. 2B-Morrissey, McMonagle. 3B-Wheland. HR-Pugh. RBI-McMonagle, Morrissey, Pugh 2, Johnson 2. WP-Pugh. LP-Price. SO-Pugh 9, McMonagle 5, Price 5. BB-Price 4, McMonagle 1, Pugh 3.
Records: Williamsburg (9-9); Bishop Guilfoyle (16-5).
