HUGHESVILLE — As the pressure mounted and the game’s tying runner dug in, Bald Eagle Area pitcher Riley Bucha embraced the moment.

And Bucha owned that moment by maintaining the same approach he utilized all afternoon. Let Hughesville hit the ball and watch his speedy outfielders make the plays. It worked 15 times Tuesday at Bodine Park and No. 15 sealed a 4-1 win.

Bucha threw a masterful three-hit complete game; Isaac Johnson smashed a go-ahead, two-out, two-run double in the second inning and BEA (13-4) won its fifth straight game.

“It’s amazing. That’s awesome pitching a complete game like that,” Bucha said after doing so for the first time this season. “I just wanted to put it in the zone and let him hit it. I trust my defense. I trust my team.”

Doing so has served Bucha well throughout the last two seasons. The crafty right-hander does not overpower hitters, but he fills up the strike zone and keeps them off-balance. There are a lot of ways to become a winning pitcher without lighting up the radar gun and Bucha has proven it, going 3-1, walking just four this season and taking a no-hitter into the fifth inning against Hughesville.

Bucha did not allow an earned run, closed with six straight scoreless innings and retired 12 of 13 batters between the first and fifth innings. Two errors and a Josiah Abernatha sacrifice fly gave Hughesville a 1-0 first inning lead, but no other Spartan would reach second base until the seventh inning.

“Riley did what you want any starting pitcher to do. He limited the walks; he limited base runners. He filled up the zone and let his defense make plays,” BEA coach Ryan MacNamara said. “He has that experience and he threw an excellent game.”

Outfielders Graysen White, Teagun Runkle and Kaden Clark were Bucha’s best friends, masterfully playing the field and catching 15 flyouts/lineouts. Clark caught six balls, including three straight in the fourth inning, while Runkle collected three of his seven outs in the last two innings.

That included the game-clincher. Chip Fowler drew Hughesville’s lone walk with two outs and Dylan McConnell (2 for 3) hit a two-strike single. The tying runner now at the plate and dangerous lead-off hitter, Jed Abernatha on deck, Bucha stayed cool under fire. Babb laced a liner toward shallow center field which looked like it might fall, but like a sprinter coming out of the blocks, Runkle charged forward upon contact and made an impressive running catch.

“The outfield was awesome. They can all move really well,” Bucha said. “Them running around and catching flyballs like that gives you a boost.”

So did the hit Johnson provided.

Bucha helped his cause in the second inning, hitting a one-out double after Clark drew a walk. Following a strikeout, Johnson took a first-pitch ball before unloading on the next pitch. The second baseman smashed his two-run double into the right-center field gap and BEA had a 2-1 lead it never relinquished.

“Isaac has a good approach. Especially with a lefty, you want to stay to that right-center and Bucha and Isaad did a great job not pulling off the ball and staying on it,” MacNamara said. “We were able to capitalize on some of that stuff to get some runs there.”

BEA patiently waited out Hughesville pitchers and worked nine walks. That proved especially crucial in the fifth inning when the Eagles scored twice and went up, 4-1. Runkle and Clark each walked and executed a double steal of second and third, Runkle scoring on an overthrow down the third-base line.

Bucha delivered at the plate again a batter later, hitting a sacrifice fly into shallow right field, making it a three-run game. Takoda Ripka also put together a quality offensive performance, going 2 for 4 and upping his average to .411.

It was another strong performance from a team which has won 12 of its last 14 games. The Eagles opened the season with three tough games and, despite starting 1-2, that experience proved beneficial. From there, the Eagles have taken flight again and are hoping they can keep soaring as the playoffs soon approach.

“We played some quality opponents and started 1-2 and, as a coaching staff, we instilled belief in them that you are a good ball team and got them to believe in each other and play for each other and be unselfish and pick each other up, and we’ve been able to do that,” BEA coach Ryan MacNamara said. “We’re playing good ball. There’s always stuff to clean up but as we get toward playoffs we’re starting to jell and hopefully, we’ll take that into postseason.”

“It’s all coming together,” Bucha said. “We’re all firing on all cylinders.”

By CHRIS MASSE

cmasse@sungazette.com

HUGHESVILLE–As the pressure mounted and the game’s tying runner dug in, Bald Eagle Area pitcher Riley Bucha embraced the moment.

And Bucha owned that moment by maintaining the same approach he utilized all afternoon. Let Hughesville hit the ball and watch his speedy outfielders make the plays. It worked 15 times Tuesday at Bodine Park and No. 15 sealed a 4-1 win.

Bucha threw a masterful three-hit complete game; Isaac Johnson smashed a go-ahead, two-out, two-run double in the second inning and BEA (13-4) won its fifth straight game.

“It’s amazing. That’s awesome pitching a complete game like that,” Bucha said after doing so for the first time this season. “I just wanted to put it in the zone and let him hit it. I trust my defense. I trust my team.”

Doing so has served Bucha well throughout the last two seasons. The crafty right-hander does not overpower hitters, but he fills up the strike zone and keeps them off-balance. There are a lot of ways to become a winning pitcher without lighting up the radar gun and Bucha has proven it, going 3-1, walking just four this season and taking a no-hitter into the fifth inning against Hughesville.

Bucha did not allow an earned run, closed with six straight scoreless innings and retired 12 of 13 batters between the first and fifth innings. Two errors and a Josiah Abernatha sacrifice fly gave Hughesville a 1-0 first inning lead, but no other Spartan would reach second base until the seventh inning.

“Riley did what you want any starting pitcher to do. He limited the walks; he limited base runners. He filled up the zone and let his defense make plays,” BEA coach Ryan MacNamara said. “He has that experience and he threw an excellent game.”

Outfielders Graysen White, Teagun Runkle and Kaden Clark were Bucha’s best friends, masterfully playing the field and catching 15 flyouts/lineouts. Clark caught six balls, including three straight in the fourth inning, while Runkle collected three of his seven outs in the last two innings.

That included the game-clincher. Chip Fowler drew Hughesville’s lone walk with two outs and Dylan McConnell (2 for 3) hit a two-strike single. The tying runner now at the plate and dangerous lead-off hitter, Jed Abernatha on deck, Bucha stayed cool under fire. Babb laced a liner toward shallow center field which looked like it might fall, but like a sprinter coming out of the blocks, Runkle charged forward upon contact and made an impressive running catch.

“The outfield was awesome. They can all move really well,” Bucha said. “Them running around and catching flyballs like that gives you a boost.”

So did the hit Johnson provided.

Bucha helped his cause in the second inning, hitting a one-out double after Clark drew a walk. Following a strikeout, Johnson took a first-pitch ball before unloading on the next pitch. The second baseman smashed his two-run double into the right-center field gap and BEA had a 2-1 lead it never relinquished.

“Isaac has a good approach. Especially with a lefty, you want to stay to that right-center and Bucha and Isaad did a great job not pulling off the ball and staying on it,” MacNamara said. “We were able to capitalize on some of that stuff to get some runs there.”

BEA patiently waited out Hughesville pitchers and worked nine walks. That proved especially crucial in the fifth inning when the Eagles scored twice and went up, 4-1. Runkle and Clark each walked and executed a double steal of second and third, Runkle scoring on an overthrow down the third-base line.

Bucha delivered at the plate again a batter later, hitting a sacrifice fly into shallow right field, making it a three-run game. Takoda Ripka also put together a quality offensive performance, going 2 for 4 and upping his average to .411.

It was another strong performance from a team which has won 12 of its last 14 games. The Eagles opened the season with three tough games and, despite starting 1-2, that experience proved beneficial. From there, the Eagles have taken flight again and are hoping they can keep soaring as the playoffs soon approach.

“We played some quality opponents and started 1-2 and, as a coaching staff, we instilled belief in them that you are a good ball team and got them to believe in each other and play for each other and be unselfish and pick each other up, and we’ve been able to do that,” BEA coach Ryan MacNamara said. “We’re playing good ball. There’s always stuff to clean up but as we get toward playoffs we’re starting to jell and hopefully, we’ll take that into postseason.”

“It’s all coming together,” Bucha said. “We’re all firing on all cylinders.”

BEA 020 020 0–4 4 2

Hughesville 100 000 0–1 3 2

Riley Bucha and Hayden Stimer. Gage Webb, Blake Babb (5) and Kyler Solomon. W–Bucha. L–Webb.

Top BEA hitters: Takoda Ripka 2-4; Isaac Johnson 1-2, 2B, 2 RBIs; Bucha 1-2, 2B, BB, RBI, R. Top Hughesville hitters: Dylan McConnell 2-3; Wynter Foglemen 1-3; Josiah Abernatha RBI.

Records: BEA 13-4. Hughesville 8-7.