​SHORT GAP, W.Va. — Potomac Valley used a three-run inning to power past Funkstown, and Jaxon Hare did the rest on the mound, delivering a complete-game performance in a 3-1 victory for Potomac Valley Post 64 in its Berkeley Post 14 Invitational Tournament opener Friday at Frankfort High School.
“Jaxon Hare threw an awesome game for us today,” Potomac Valley manager Brent Williamson said. “The defense was great. We put the ball in play when we needed to. We’ve still got to get a little better at that. We’re leaving too many runners out there stranded.” Williamson added that both teams played well and that Potomac Valley faced a solid opponent in Funkstown, one that is “very good,” just as his own squad is.
Potomac Valley’s offense did all its damage in the third inning, tallying three runs on four hits and two walks. Hare, Lucas Williamson and Blake Jacobs opened the frame with consecutive singles, loading the bases with nobody out. The Skunks’ pitcher battled a wet mound caused by a steady rain that began shortly after the first pitch, but the inning’s rally continued. A pair of run-scoring walks—by James Vincell and Mason Slade—sandwiched an RBI single to left by Hunter Harr, giving Potomac Valley a 3-0 lead.
Funkstown finally got on the board in the fourth. Heath Githens’ bunt single produced the team’s first hit, and Funkstown didn’t string together a sustained threat until the seventh. A mental mistake on an Alex Smith grounder to short—where no one from Post 64 covered third on the play—allowed a pair of runners to reach safely and cut the deficit to 3-1. Yet Funkstown’s attempt to climb closer stalled when a suicide squeeze with one out failed, and Potomac Valley tagged a runner out between third and home while Hare induced a pop-out to close the door.
Hare was excellent from the start, firing four innings on 49 pitches while amassing seven strikeouts and just one walk in a complete-game effort. He did encounter some sixth-inning cramping but remained effective, striking out the side in order to finish. “It’s nice having Hare on the mound,” Williamson remarked. “You don’t really want to have to go through a lot of pitchers in the game if you don’t have to. More than likely, every time he goes out there, it’s going to be a complete game.”
Defensively, Potomac Valley was crisp, committing only one error. The best defensive play of the day came from right fielder Lukas Wolford, who raced into the right-center gap to make a running catch and rob George Mantz of extra bases. Funkestown’s lone extra-base hit came in the seventh, when Smith doubled and would later score a runner on the triple, a ball that briefly injected more life into the visitors’ offense before the rally was stymied.
In the end, Hare’s steady, efficient outing and Potomac Valley’s timely hitting were enough to secure the win. Potomac Valley improved to 8-5-1 on the season, while Funkstown dropped to 15-5. The inviting atmosphere of the tournament and the quality of both teams suggest more compelling games to come as the weekend progresses.