Brookville rallies to beat Karns City baseball despite early dealings from Xavier Bartoe
BUTLER TWP — Xavier Bartoe was on cruise control — until Brookville’s bats took control.
The Karns City sophomore right-hander was working on a three-hit shutout through five innings — throwing only 42 pitches — before the visiting Raiders erupted for seven hits over the final two frames to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 District 9 Class 3A baseball victory Tuesday evening at Pullman Park.
“Even though we weren’t hitting and were trailing, our guys never panicked,” Brookville coach Chad Weaver said. “Bartoe was doing a nice job keeping us off-balance with his curveball early.
“But we were just missing on some of that contact and Karns City made some nice defensive plays against us. We were still confident.”
Tyson Frazer’s RBI single in the first inning gave the Gremlins (6-6) a 1-0 lead. Brock Dittman reached on an error to begin the KC fourth inning, eventually scoring on Bryce Galan’s infield hit.
Through the first five innings, Brookville (7-3) got only one runner as far as second base.
“We had opportunities to add on and didn’t,” Karns City coach Josh Smith said. “We have to learn to play a full seven-inning game, not just five innings. I thought we had some lazy swings late and got a little nervous out there.
“Those are growing pains that come with being a young team.”
The Gremlins grounded into double plays in the second and sixth innings, short-circuiting scoring threats.
Brookville finally broke through in the sixth. With two outs and a runner on second, No. 4 hitter Ladd Blake hit a high fly ball deep down the left-field line. The ball barely got over left fielder Cole Johnston’s glove at the 347-foot sign, landing for a run-scoring double.
Parker Kalgren then lined a single to right, plating Blake to tie the game.
Zach Phillips greeted Bartoe with a lined single to center. He moved to second on a wild pitch and scored when Landon Smith grounded a single up the middle. Smith replaced Bartoe on the mound with Colton Christie at that point.
Christie allowed a run-scoring double to Dante Morey before escaping further damage.
“They started timing up my curveball,” Bartoe said of the Raiders’ late surge. “I was getting weak contact off that earlier. I’m always around the plate with my pitches. My fastball isn’t great, but it’s good enough. I can be effective with it.”
Bartoe entered the game with a 3.85 ERA. He now has 23 strikeouts and four walks in 26 innings pitched this season.
The game was played in roughly 90 minutes.
“We saw by their stats that he doesn’t walk very many,” Weaver said. “We wanted our hitters to be aggressive at the plate, and they eventually got to him. Our guy was throwing strikes, too.
“Anyone who attended this game could have left their cars running. It was a quick one.”
Brookville freshman Joel Bortton threw 59 of his 88 pitches in a complete-game effort, striking out five. Bartoe threw 47 of his 61 pitches for strikes.
Karns City managed only six singles offensively and had just two hits over the final five innings.
“We gotta hit. That’s an issue right now,” Bartoe said. “We’re popping up too much. We need to hit the ball on the ground, use our speed. Once we start doing that, we’ll be a better team.”
Blake Douglas, a seventh-grader from East Brady, sang the national anthem before the game.
Brookville 000 002 2 — 4 10 2
Karns City 100 100 0 — 2 6 0
WP: Joel Bortton 7IP (5so, 1bb). LP: Xavier Bartoe 6IP (3so, 0bb).
Brookville (7-3): Chase Nimmo 1B, Landen Marrara 1B, Ladd Blake 1B 2B RBI, Parker Kalgren 1B RBI, Zach Phillips 1B, Landon Smith 1B RBI, Dante Morey 1B 2B RBI, Joel Bortton 1B.
Karns City (6-6): Camden Slater 1B, Tyson Frazer 1B RBI, Joey O’Donnell 1B, Cole Johnston 1B, Bryce Galan 2-1B RBI.
Thursday: Karns City at North Clarion
