PARKERSBURG - Junior right-hander Brad Brubaker scattered seven hits and went the distance here Tuesday night, walking one and fanning six, as Parkersburg South doubled up visiting Ripley, 4-2, at Hank Greenburg Field.
Coach Matt Null's squad trailed 2-0 after three, but rallied for a four-run fifth as the Patriots improved to 13-7 and await Belpre for a home tilt at 5:30 p.m. today.
Ripley, now 9-10 with a home affair slated for 6:30 p.m. today against Nitro, tacked on single tallies in both the first and third thanks to No. 3 hitter Jamin Jones and cleanup man Heath Barnette. Jones singled with two gone in the first, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on Barnette's RBI bloop single to left. In the third, Jones sent a bouncing rocket into right for a single and scurried to second after an outfield error. He scored when Barnette blooped in an RBI base knock to right-center.
Viking losing pitcher Alex Karst, who didn't return after the fifth, cruised through the first four frames with a one-hitter. Dustin Helmic did the only damage for the Patriots when he doubled to deep left-center to start the second.
However, the fortune of the hosts changed in the bottom of the fifth when Jacob Wilcox started the inning with a triple down the line in left. Ripley junior Tyler Pittenger nearly tracked it down, but when he dove the ball just glanced off the webbing of his glove. Wilcox later scored on a wild pitch and after Clay Walters drew a free pass, Braxton Johnson reached on an infield bunt single. Helmic and Wes Mitchem then followed with RBI singles and Dylan Weaver's RBI groundout made it 4-2.
Ripley catcher Ben DeWees reached on a two-out infield single in the sixth, but nothing materialized for the Vikings of skipper Shane Casto.
Leadoff hitter Tyler Casto singled with one out in the seventh, but the game ended when Jones ripped a shot to the left of Helmic and the second baseman knocked it down, scooped it up and fired to Mitchem at first to retire the speedy Viking senior on a bang-bang play.
