Published: May 01, 2008 11:22 am         

Stein's 1-hitter lifts BW over Mt. Ridge, 1-0

CUMBERLAND - Bishop Walsh scored a run in the sixth inning on a line-single by Neal Eshelman, but the story of the day was right-hander Chris Stein, who pitched a masterful one-hitter after taking a perfect game into the sixth inning, as the Bishop Walsh Spartans defeated the Mountain Ridge Miners, 1-0, Wednesday at Al Martin Field.

In outdueling Mountain Ridge's Josh Neilson during the one-hour, 25-minute contest, Stein struck out 10 batters and didn't allow a walk. The lone hit he surrendered came in the sixth when, with two outs, John Richards, the No. 9 hitter in the Miners' order, laced a clean single between first and second base. Stein was able to retire the next hitter on a comebacker to the mound and then retired the side in the seventh, stranding the leadoff hitter, who reached on an error, with a flyball out to right and two strikeouts, marking the fourth time during the afternoon Stein would strike out at least two hitters in the same inning.

Stein raised his mark to 3-1 with one save.

"He was on tonight, obviously," said Bishop Walsh head coach Sam Torres. "He induced seven ground-ball outs. He worked his curveball very well to keep the hitters off-stride.

"As far as high school games go, this is one of the better games I've seen in high school. Neilson was really on his game as well, but we were able to put something together in the sixth. It was just a well-played game.

"As for Bishop Walsh, it was one of the best pitching performances I've seen in the last 11 years."

Mountain Ridge's Neilson struck out six and walked two and gave up just six hits.

The Spartans scored their run when Jonathan Cullen singled to start the sixth. Ray Miller bunted for a hit to put runners on first and second, and after fouling off two bunts, Aaron O'Rourke moved the runners over to second and third with a sacrifice. With two outs, Chandler Tomlinson was walked intentionally, before Eshelman hit a line drive to right to score Cullen with what would be the winning run.

Bishop Walsh (7-10) will host Northern today at 4 p.m. Mountain Ridge (7-5) will host Keyser on Saturday.