BUFORD -- You knew something had to give when the two high-powered offenses of Buford and Lovett met each other's dominating pitching Tuesday in a key Region 6-AA matchup at Buford Field.
In the end, it was the pitching of Buford junior southpaw Sam Clay that won out. Clay fanned seven and allowed just six hits in 6 1/3 innings in leading the Wolves to a 2-0 win over the Lions.
Clay outdueled the Lovett's Dylan Malinowski, who allowed two runs on four hits while striking out seven in four innings.
The win kept Buford (12-1, 4-0 Region 6-AA) within a game of first place Westminster in the region standings and pushed its win streak to nine. Lovett (8-6, 4-2) saw its four-game win streak snapped with the loss.
Buford came into the game averaging more than eight runs a game during its current win streak but could not get much going against Malinowski and Jack Geroghty, who allowed just one hit in two innings of relief. The Wolves instead played small ball using walks and sacrifice bunts to move runners over and then a got hit batter and a sacrifice fly to score their only two runs.
Buford coach Tony Wolfe said he was pleased to see his team manufacture runs when they needed them.
"Even when you have a good offense, good pitching will more times than not shut you down," Wolfe said. "But we battled and found a couple of way to get some runs in. We would've loved a few more hits but we'll take it. When you play teams like Lovett, you have to do all the little things well."
Wolfe said the real key was the Wolves' defense, which did not commit an error after having seven against GAC on Friday.
"Zac (Lynn) had an outstanding game at short and overall we made several good plays to keep them from getting a rally going," Wolfe said. "That was the real difference to me."
After Clay got out of a quick jam with a runner in scoring position in the first inning, Buford got the quick lead in the bottom of the inning. The Wolves loaded the bases on two walks and a hit but managed just one run when Mason Gentry was hit by Malinowski driving in Adam Hampton for a 1-0 lead.
Clay (4-0) would then settle down retiring nine of the next 11 Lovett batters. The Wolves would load the bases again in the fourth with one out but again Malinowski would get out of the inning allowing just one run on a sacrifice fly by James Nix for a 2-0 lead.
Lovett's best chance came in the sixth inning. The Lions got runners to second and third with two out but Clay struck out Hunter Budd to end the inning. Josh Heddinger came on in relief of Clay in the seventh with one out and one man on but retired both batters he faced to record his first save of the season.
Gentry would finish with two hits and one RBI to lead Buford at the plate. Brian Clark, Troy Herterick, and Clay each had one hit for the Wolves.
Geroghty had two hits for Lovett.
Saturday
February 1st, 2025
3:49PM
