On the road for Game 2 of a best-of-three-game New York-Penn League Championship, the West Virginia Black Bears had the Staten Island Yankees on the brink of elimination.
The Black Bears, coming of a walk-off win in their first ever New York-Penn League Championship game Monday night, looked to put the Baby Bombers away in Game 2. West Virginia was able to do just that via late inning heroics and the long ball in a 3-1 victory.
The Black Bears went down early as a result of a Jhalen Jackson solo homer in the fifth inning off West Virginia starting pitcher Dario Agrazal.
Agrazal, who would strike out nine in five innings of work, allowed three hits, one earned run and one walk. Toeing the rubber for the opposing Yankees was James Kaprielian. Kaprielian threw shutout ball over 6.1 innings of baseball for Staten Island.
Carlos Munoz tied the game up in the top of the seventh inning for West Virginia with a solo blast of his own off Yankees reliever James Reeves.
Cesilio Pimentel would shut the door in relief for the Black Bears only giving up two hits in 2.1 innings of work.
West Virginia and Staten Island would remain tied 1-1 until the top of the ninth inning when Casey Hughston would step to the plate. Ke’Bryan Hayes got the inning started with a one-out single to right field giving Hughston the platform to use some leftover late inning magic from the Black Bears walk-off win in Game 1 Monday night.
The third-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates by way of the University of Alablama stepped up to the plate and lined a laser shot over the center field fence for a two-run go-ahead homer to make the score 3-1.
Julio Eusebio pitched 1.2 innings of hitless baseball to seal the deal and help West Virginia clinch its first ever New York-Penn League Championship in year one of its existence.
West Virginia, the short-season A affiliate of the Pirates, finished its Championship season with an overall record of 46-35.
Photo credit: WestVirginiaBlackBears.com
