GRAFTON, W.Va. — Philip Barbour scored runs in five different innings and Grant Harris was one out away from collecting a shutout as the Colts remained unbeaten on the young season with a 9-3 win at Big 10 Conference rival Grafton.
Harris allowed three runs with two outs in the seventh but he went the distance on the bump for the Colts. Through six innings, he conceded just one hit before yielding three in the final frame. Harris walked three batters and struck out four.
“Grant does that every time out. He throws strikes, trusts his defense, has four pitches that all work,” said Philip Barbour head coach Jonathon Carpenter. “He really should have pitched a shutout tonight but we kind of gave some runs away. That’s what we expect from him. I know when we need a W, we have numerous guys we can give the ball to.”
The Colts scored three runs in the first inning and three more over the next two frames to build a 6-0 lead. PB tacked on three insurance runs in the final two innings.
“Anytime you can jump up early and maybe put a little bit of doubt in their mind, that goes a long way. But they are very talented. We wanted to focus early on finding ways on base and then getting people moved around. And we didn’t become complacent. We found a way to get a couple more runs in the later innings, which is big.”
The Colts collected ten hits, with three of those coming courtesy of Nick Gonzales. Slaton Harris and Anthony Mosesso also had multi-hit games. Kale Wolfe scored three runs while Gonzales and Slaton Harris each crossed the plate twice.
With the victory, Philip Barbour improved to 6-0 with each win coming by at least three runs. PB has scored at least six runs in all six games.
“The we way have gotten there has kind of surprised me. We haven’t really hit the ball the way we are capable yet. But we knew the pitching was going to be there and we knew we would field it. But we thought we would put up more runs than we have so far. That will come. The bats are usually the last thing.”
Greyson Ramezan and Chase Kinsey had run-scoring base hits for the Bearcats (7-3) in the bottom of the seventh inning. Carter Gillespie and John Gouzd also collected base hits. Mason Sheme allowed two runs in four innings in relief of starting pitcher Jacob Moats.