Fannett-Metal (13-5) shut out visiting Berlin BrothersValley 10-0 in the opening round of the District Five Playoffs. The Tigers entered the tournament as the #2 seed while the Mountaineers were seeded #7. With the victory the Tigers will move on to the semi finals on Thursday where they will host #3 seed Rockwood at 4:30.
The Tigers took command early in this one with a three run first inning. Jake Coffman led off with a single to start the game. Landon Arnold stroked a single to right to move Coffman to second. After an out, Ayden Ryder smashed a two run double to the gap to score Coffman and Arnold. Adam Hammond singled to move courtesy runner Kristan Koser to third. Koser scored on a Noah Naugle sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.
That would be all the run support Tiger starter Wade Appleby would need. The Tiger’s Senior pounded the strike zone all game limiting the Mountaineers to only one hit in the game. He had 7 strikeouts and no walks in a dominant performance.
The Tigers offense added a run in the third before getting another big inning going in the fourth.
In the big fourth inning, Coffman once again got things started with a one out line drive single to left. Arnold followed with a RBI double to right center scoring Coffman from first. Wade Appleby stroked a RBI single to score Arnold. Appleby scored on a RBI hit and run single to the gap by Ryder to complete the scoring and extend the lead to 7-0.
The Tigers added another run in the fifth before invoking the mercy rule in the bottom of the sixth with a pair of runs. Logan Hall scored the winning run from third on a passed ball to end the game.
Mountaineers pitcher Nick Novak took the loss. Three other relievers worked different innings in the contest. Clark had the lone hit for Berlin.
The Tigers pounded Mountaineers pitching for 16 hits. Arnold, Ryder and Hammond each had three hits. Ryder and Arnold each stroked doubles. Coffman and Hall both a pair of hits. Ryder had 3 RBI’s. Noah Naugle, Nick Naugle, and Appleby added hits. Coffman, Koser and Arnold each scored a pair of runs. The Tigers also swiped 7 bases on the day with Broc Hostler having two stolen bases.