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MARTINSBURG -- Veteran Central High School baseball coach A.J. Hoenstine has a problem this year that a lot of coaches would love to have.
Due to an abundance of talent and depth on his roster, Hoenstine sometimes struggles with filling out his lineup card.
"These guys make my job hard that way,'' Hoenstine was saying Thursday after watching his top-seeded Scarlet Dragons improve to 18-2 by dispatching of Bellwood-Antis, 15-0 in a four-inning District 6 Class 3A quarterfinal-round mercy-rule decision at the Central High School field. "These guys all get after it, we've got a lot of talent on this team, and sometimes it's hard for me to write a starting lineup.
"All the players always give their best effort, and they are very cooperative with whatever I decide, although sometimes the parents aren't too happy,'' Hoenstine added.
There were no reasons for frowns in the Central camp Thursday, as the Scarlet Dragons capitalized on six walks, two hit batsmen, and a Bellwood error to blow the game open with a 10-run first inning.
Central, which got a perfect four-inning pitching effort from junior left-handed pitcher Jonah Snowberger, will host fourth-seeded Forest Hills, a 2-0 winner over Bald Eagle Area, in a semifinal matchup next Wednesday.
Snowberger struck out six of the 12 batters that he retired in succession, and walked none.
"This was a really big game, we knew that coming in, and we aren't going to take anybody lightly,'' Snowberger said. "We're back at it Wednesday, and we're excited to see where the season is going to take us.''
Hoenstine thought Snowberger pitched very well.
"Jonah threw a perfect game, he was on top of things, and as a junior, he's only going to get better,'' Hoenstine said.
Central capitalized on the early wildness of Bellwood junior starting pitcher Jack Luensmann to take command in the first inning.
Shortstop Paxton Kling was hit by a pitch, and catcher Hunter Klotz and left fielder Devon Boyles both walked to load the bases. First baseman Hunter Smith's sacrifice fly to right field scored Kling, and Dalton Metzger -- running for Klotz -- advanced to third.
After designated hitter Jeff Hoenstine walked to load the bases, Snowberger was hit by a pitch, forcing in Metzger.
Consecutive walks drawn by third baseman Tanner Hall, center fielder Ty Helsel, and right fielder Lleyton Kling forced in, respectively, Boyles, Hoenstine, and Griffin Snowberger - who was put in as a courtesy runner for Jonah Snowberger, and Central had a 5-0 lead.
Owen Shedlock came on to pitch, and a Bellwood error on a looping-hopground ball hit by Paxton Kling scored two more runs.
Three more scored on an RBI groundout by Klotz, a run-scoring single by Boyles, and a throwing error after a Smith single to complete the 10-run Central inning.
"I thought that we came out really well,'' said Paxton Kling, a junior, who added a two-run homer in the second inning. "We wanted to win, we were focused, and we did our thing.''
Bellwood finished 11-7 with a younger team.
"(Central is) really good -- one of the better high school baseball teams that I've seen in my 19 years as a coach,'' Bellwood-Antis coach Steve Conlon said. "But one game doesn't make a season. We have a lot of young players who played hard this year, and we have a lot of guys coming back. I'm looking forward to getting some work in, and getting ready for next year.''
Jeff Hoenstine's RBI single in the third inning and Smith's game-clinching RBI single in the fourth wrapped up the victory for Central.
"Our guys have been really focused, and they had a good approach today,'' A.J. Hoenstine said.
BELLWOOD-ANTIS (0): Yost ss 200, Joe Dorminy lf 200, Bollinger c 000, Guyer dh 200, Luensmann p-1b-rf 100, Barr 2b 100, Shedlock 1b-p 100, Josh Dorminy rf 100, Shildt 3b-p 100, Gibbons cf 100, Kovac 3b 000, Miller p 000. Totals - 12-0-0.
CENTRAL (15): P. Kling ss 331, Klotz c 211, Metzger cr 020, Boyles lf 322, Smith 1b 313, Ebersole 2b 000, Hoenstine dh 111, Veckov cr 000, J. Snowberger p 201, G. Snowberger cr 010, Hall 3b 110, Helsel cf 221, L. Kling rf 210. Totals - 19-15-11.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Bellwood-Antis 000 0XX X--0-0-3
Central (10)31 1XX X--15-11-0
E--Bollinger, Barr, Joe Dorminy. 2B--Smith. 3B--Klotz. HR--P. Kling. RBI--P. Kling 3, Klotz 2, Smith 2, Boyles, Ebersole, J. Snowberger, Hall, Helsel, L. Kling. SF--H. Smith. SB--Boyles 3, P. Kling, Helsel, Klotz. HBP--P. Kling by Luensmann; J. Snowberger by Luensmann; Hall by Shildt. LOB--Central 9, Bellwood-Antis 0.
PITCHING
Bellwood-Antis: Luensmann (L) 1/3IP, 0H, 8R, 5ER, 6BB, 0S0; Shedlock 1 2/3IP, 6H, 5R, 2ER, 1BB, 1S0; Shildt 1IP, 3H, 1R, 0ER, 0BB, 0SO; Miller 3 batters, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 0S0.
Central: J. Snowberger (W) 4IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 6SO.
WP--Luensmann.
Umpires: Jay Negri (plate); Larry Stitt (first base); Jim Cushion (3B).