Published: August 06, 2009 12:16 am      

Moore, Crawford lift Culver Design in 10th

Pirates sweep for Hot Stove League championship

POTOMAC PARK — Trevor Moore hit a clutch two-run single to give Culver Design Build the lead in the top of the 10th inning and Josh Crawford came back out to complete his 10 inning stint on the mound and induced three fly outs to centerfield as the Pirates beat the Cresaptown Eagles, 4-2, for a two-game sweep in the Hot Stove League championship series.

The American League champions, who edged the Eagles 3-2 in the opener on Monday, closed the campaign with an 18-game win streak and a 24-1 record. The National League champion Eagles had entered the series with a 21-game win streak to finish with a 22-4 overall record after the sweep.

The Hot Stove League classic featured some outstanding pitching by Crawford and Cresaptown starter Ryan Keifer. There was also some great defensive play that included a triple play by the Eagles in the first inning. The Cresaptown catcher Travis Milburn also came up with a rare feat when he gunned down three Culver Design runners attempting to steal in the same inning.

“They didn’t want to go away and it was an all-around great game,” said Culver Design manager Craig Chaney, who had announced at the beginning of the year that this would be his last year at the helm. “Josh settled down after a slow start and pitched a great game and we made big plays behind him. It’s a cliche, but these guys really play together as a team and try to do everything we tell them to do. They worked hard for this.”

Crawford allowed 11 hits in the 10 innings and had six strikeouts and only one walk as he lifted his individual record to 11-1. The crafty lefthander had one string from the second to the sixth inning where he retired 13 straight batters.

“The reason we won was the way we play,” said the 15-year-old pitcher. “We had a lot of great defensive plays and hit the ball when we had to. The Good Lord helped me.”

Moore went the route for the win on the mound on the hot muggy Monday night game and has been one of the Pirates top hitters all season.

“I was nervous, but I had had this happen before and it felt good to come through,” said Moore about the winning hit. “I was ecstatic.”

Eagles starter Ryan Keifer allowed only two runs and seven hits before giving way to Kevin Myers with one out in the ninth inning. In the Culver Design half of the 10th, Shane Ruggles worked hard fouling off a lot of balls before reaching on a walk to start the rally. Dane Heavener hammered a single up the middle to put runners of first and second. Chris Wilson was then walked to set the plate for Moore who delivered a hard-hit ball to left-centerfield for his second basehit.

Culver Design pushed in one run before being shot down by the triple play with the bases-loaded in the opening inning.

The lead-off batter Wilson reached on an error, Moore followed with his first basehit and Josh Crawford loaded the bases with a bunt single. Wilson scored on an errant pick-off throw to first and Bucky Timbrook then drew a walk to fill the sacks again. On a grounder to third baseman Trevor Porter was forced out at home and Milburn threw out the batter Garrett Crawford going to first. Timbrook was then thrown out on the Brandon Murray throw back to the plate as he attempted to score.

Cresaptown got the run back in the second with basehits by Hayden Bosley and Keifer and the RBI single by Chris Fram.

Culver Design regained the lead in the fourth with a Timbrook double and an RBI single by Adam Fox.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, James Moellemkamp blooped a single to right for the first of his two basehits. Keifer then cracked a double to tie the game and force extra innings.

Milburn also had a double and a single for the Eagles, but was gunned at the plate on a squeeze bunt by Ryan Murphy that could have given Cresaptown the win in the eighth inning.

“We can’t hang our heads and it was a great game,” said Eagles coach Dave Keifer.

Steve Luse is a sports writer for the Cumberland Time-News. He can be reached at sluse@times-news.com