Photo by Kim North St. Clairsville righthander Ford Hughes throws a pitch plateward Wednesday night against Cambridge/Belle Valley Post 84/641 on the Memorial Park diamond. The Martins Ferry sophomore-to-be struck out five, walked two and scattered six hits in five innings to pick up the win as Post 159 prevailed, 8-4.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – Coming off a tough-to-swallow loss at Wheeling Post 1 on Tuesday night, St. Clairsville bounced back with a gut-check effort 24 hours later.

Post 159 scored seven times in the bottom of the fourth inning and a pair of Martins Ferry right-handers -Ford Hughes and Eli Smith – made them stand up in an 8-4 doubling up of visiting Cambridge/Belle Valley Post 84/641 on the Memorial Park diamond in St. Clairsville.

“That was a tough loss yesterday,” St. Clairsville manager Mike Muklewicz said. “I would have liked to see more focus from these guys today but it’s not even the dog days yet, so we’ve got to get them whipped into shape for the final push at the end of the season. We’re back at it this weekend with four games in three days, so we’ve got to be ready.”

After facing a pair of NCAA Division I pitchers against Wheeling, St. Clairsville was held in check by a slower throwing Austin Warner for three innings. However, that all changed when Cambridge changed pitchers.

Post 159 sent 11 batters to the plate in the fourth frame against Post 84/641 relievers Brody Brown and Brady Arnold. Four walks and three hits later, the hosts held a 7-0 advantage. The big hit in the inning was a two-out bases-clearing double off the bat of Roby Hanna.

With St. Clairsville ahead 3-0, Smith was intentionally walked on a 3-1 count to load the bases for Hanna. The St. Clairsville senior-to-be laced a 1-1 pitch into the gap in left-center to bump the count to 6-0. Hanna raced home on Matheson King’s single to left.

“I would have liked a little more offense tonight, but when we started hitting we took advantage of what they gave us,” Muklewicz added. “When we came alive, we really came alive.”

Cambridge scored an unearned run in the fifth as Hughes completed his five-inning outing. The sophomore-to-be at Martins Ferry fanned five, walked a pair and spaced out six singles in throwing 75 pitches, of which 46 were strikes.

“For a young kid, he pitched well,” Muklewicz said. “We put him in a little last week to dip his toes and he threw pretty well against New Philadelphia. Tonight, he kept them in check.”

Jaxon Starks added a pair of RBI for Post 159 as he walked with the bases-loaded in the fourth and singled in the final St. Clairsville run an inning later. Colby Carpenter added a run-producing single and Kade Koroneos knocked in a run with a groundout.

Cambridge scored three runs in the seventh off of Smith, but he stranded the bases loaded with one out on consecutive flyballs.

St. Clairsville plays Zanesville Friday at 1 p.m. in the Muskingum University Invitational in New Concord. The event continues all weekend and also includes Wheeling Post 1.