ONA -- For the second straight night Saturday, Barboursville was involved in an all out battle in the Junior League Baseball 13-14 year-old state tournament, and for the second straight time the team answered when it meant the most.
Caleb Ross hit a single in the bottom of the seventh and stole second, third, and home to give his team an 11-10 victory over Fairmont and avoid what would have been an major collapse.
Barboursville held a 10-6 lead coming into the top of the second inning and needed just three outs to seal the win. But Fairmont scored four runs, tying the game at 10-10 and forcing Barboursville to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Ross lifted his team to victory for the second straight night. On Friday he hit a three run homer to propel Barboursville to a 10-8 win over South Berkeley.
But scoring the game winning run wasn't even Ross' brightest moment of the game. He lit into a pitch in the bottom of the fifth inning with bases loaded for a triple that scored three runs and gave his team a 9-3 lead.
Ross led Barboursville in batting once again with a 3-for-5 performance, the triple and four RBIs. In two games of pool play, Ross has stepped up and emerged as the go to leader of a very capable Barboursville team.
"I was ready to play today and someone had to step up because one of our best players got hurt and was unable to play," Ross said. "Cody Gibson really helped us by coming in there and pitching a good game."
Ross was referring to Will Lester, Barboursville's second strongest pitcher. Lester was supposed to get the start today, but he took a cleat to the leg against South Berkeley and suffered a severe gash that will keep him out for the remainder of the tournament.
With Lester out, Gibson stepped into the starting role and didn't disappoint. He pitched almost six full innings, allowing only six hits and three walks.
"The hero of the game without a doubt was Cody Gibson," Barboursville coach Todd Lester said. "Without him we wouldn't have even been able to come close."
Gibson even made a brilliant catch in the top of the sixth inning, sprinting to chase down a deep shot. He made the catch for the third out with two runners on base.
Once Gibson reached his pitching count and was taken out the game Fairmont began their rally. Barboursville had to dig deep into their pitching rotation and no matter what they tried nothing seemed to work.
Barboursville used three different pitchers between the sixth and seventh innings without Gibson, and all of them struggled to put the finishing touch on the game.
Fairmont scored seven runs in the sixth and seventh innings without Gibson on the mound. The breakdown in pitching only brought to light how big of a blow it was when Lester went down with an injury.
Matt Robins was a big part of Fairmont's offensive resurgence, hitting 3-for-5 with an RBI. Tyler Walter was also key, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Jimmie Easton batted 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a double.
Jacob Sowards provided more sound hitting at the plate for Barboursville, batting 2-for-3. Adam Jeffrey was the teams only other player to have multiple hits, batting 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Barboursville resumes play today at Barboursville Community Park against Logan at 5 p.m. The teams biggest question is does Barboursville have enough pitching left to remain undefeated in pool play?
Huntington Blue is also back in action today at Cabell Midland against Chapmanville at 8 p.m.
With wins today, Barboursville and Huntington Blue could advance past pool play and into the final bracket.
FAIRMONT 000 033 4 -- 10 10 2
BARBOURSVILLE 002 341 1 -- 11 11 3
Hitting: (F) Matt Robbins 3-5, RBI; Jimmie Easton 2-5, 2 RBI, 2B; (B) Caleb Ross 3-5, 4 RBI, 3B; Adam Jeffrey 2-4, RBI; Jacob Sowards 2-3.
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