FUMA shuts out Blue Ridge

For two teams trying to establish some early-season momentum, one big inning made all the difference.
Fork Union broke through for eight second-inning runs against Blue Ridge starter Ed Moss, and four Blue Devils pitchers made the lead stand up in an 11-0, five-inning victory Thursday afternoon.
Ron Berscak struck the biggest blow in the second, tagging Moss for a two-run double. Jay Billingsley and Sean Sweeney also had RBI doubles in the frame and Drew Stout added a run-scoring single. FUMA (2-0) took advantage of two Blue Ridge errors and a wild pitch.
“Our bats opened up and we started driving the ball in the middle of the field like we practice all the time,” said FUMA coach Ben Paris. “We started coming up with some hits.”
Stout added another RBI in the fourth inning when he singled past diving Barons third baseman Mike Casey, scoring John Malley. Ryan Nolan then plated Stout with a run-scoring groundout.
“It’s funny how baseball is,” said Blue Ridge coach Chris Cunningham. “Sometimes you get the bounces, sometimes you don’t. Our pitcher did a good job of hitting his spots and they hit the ball. Unfortunately, they hit the ball in the holes.”
Malley had worked his way around the bases on a series of Blue Ridge mistakes. He reached base when Moss — who had moved to first base, switching positions with Paul Legros — dropped a throw from shortstop Chad Byars, then Malley took second on a balk and went to third on a wild pitch.
Berscak drove in his third run of the day in the fifth on a seeing-eye single through the left side of the infield. Mark Royer scored on the hit after leading off with a single and stealing second.
Berscak and Billingsley, the eighth and ninth hitters in the FUMA lineup, went a combined 3 for 6 with four RBI.
“This is the second game in a row where the bottom of the order has gotten the majority of the hits,” said Paris, whose team defeated Hargrave in its season opener. “Guys in the bottom of the order can get some fastballs, and they work hard on that and did a good job today.”
BRS (0-1) had two solid scoring opportunities but wasted the first one when courtesy runner Penn Bloxsom was thrown out at the plate on a double steal attempt. The Barons loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth and star Chad Byars at the plate, but Cole Herod forced a dribbler to second to end the game.
Herod followed Sweeney, Stout and Billingsley on the mound as Paris conserved his staff for the Blue Devils’ doubleheader against Norfolk Academy on Saturday.
Blue Ridge returns to action with a Saturday doubleheader of its own at Virginia Episcopal.