“I love this day every year and to come here and play at a great venue is just fantastic,” said Beavercreek coach Brandon Long. “(Shawnee coach Mark Armstrong) is a good friend of mine. He’s got a great squad every year. They got us the last time we were here so we came in with a little bit of intent to make it right in our minds.”
Beavercreek senior Addison Culpepper went 2-for-3 with a double, junior Sean McCray went 2-for-3, senior Kenny Blackmore had a double and junior Owen Tedder had two RBIs for Beavercreek, which improved to 2-0 overall.
Shawnee senior Matthew Fowler and junior Patrick Fultz each had hits for the Braves, which fell to 1-3 overall.
The Beavers capitalized on an overthrow on a pickoff attempt by Shawnee pitcher and Indiana Tech commit Luke Myers and in the first inning, taking a 1-0 lead on a steal of home by Blackmore. After two scoreless innings, the Beavers finally broke through in the fourth inning, chasing Myers from the game with two on and no outs.
“He’s fantastic,” Long said. “He’s got a good arm, filling the zone up. The velo was there. It took us a little bit to settle in and once we knocked him out, we got more confidence in ourselves offensively.”
With the bases loaded, a groundout by senior Ian Long gave Beavercreek a 2-0 lead. The Beavers followed with a two-RBI double by Blackmore, an RBI single by McCray, an RBI double by Culpepper and a two RBI single by Tedder to give the Beavers a 9-0 lead after four innings. An RBI single by sophomore Austin Papalios in the bottom of the fifth inning sealed the victory for Beavercreek.
It was the fourth game in four days for Shawnee. The Braves open conference play against North Union on Friday.
“I think it comes down to we’re just not in baseball shape yet,” Armstrong said. “With our pitching, we’ve done a lot of pitching in games and not much practice. We’ve just got to pick it up. One inning, really one or two plays, one or two pitches and it’s a different game. It was a good game up to that point.”
After missing last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Braves have several new players in key roles, Armstrong said.
“It feels like I’ve coached for five years, but it’s only my second season,” he said. “We’re still learning some things. The kids are still adjusting; this is really only the second year of a new program. I think the seniors are starting to pick it up. The lack of practicing and playing, we’re starting to see it. It should come up here soon starting conference (play).”
Wittenberg University commit and senior pitcher Charlie Schafer earned the victory on the mound for the Beavers. He allowed just one hit in four scoreless innings, striking out five Braves batters. He threw 41 of his 62 pitches for strikes.
“He did a great job, threw a lot of strikes,” Long said. “He had a good mix (of pitches). He’s a battler and he wanted the ball tonight.”
It was the second straight win for the Beavers, who beat Carroll 6-3 in its season opener on Monday. Beavercreek is headed to Murfreesboro, Tenn. this weekend for four games.
“It was a big win,” Long said. “To leave Ohio 2-0, that’s good stuff in our minds.”
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