Fort Frye first baseman Alexander Lowe manages to finally tag out Parkersburg South's Ty Davis during a rundown in the Cadets' 10-1 setback Tuesday at Hank Greenburg Field. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

PARKERSBURG — On a cold and windy Tuesday evening here at Hank Greenburg Field where the 1975 Parkersburg South state championship team was honored, the host Patriots got a solid effort from Dylan Holliday on the hill while battery mate Landon Utt delivered his first career four-hit game in the Patriots’ 10-1 victory versus Fort Frye.

The Cadets, who lost 3-0 two weeks ago in Beverly to the Patriots when Holliday and Easton Walker combined for a no-hitter, never recovered after losing pitcher Clayton Miller allowed four runs in the bottom of the first.

PSHS, which improved to 9-7 and plays today at John Marshall, opened the affair with six consecutive singles thanks to Carter McLain, Ty Davis, Holliday, Walker, Eli Davis and Utt, whose run-scoring single to right made it 4-0.

McLain scored on a double-steal at home, although Ty Davis was tagged out in a rundown by Cadet first baseman Alexander Lowe. Holiday scored on a wild pitch while Davis also scored on a double-steal.

Miller, who pitched into the fourth, trailed 5-0 after two when his free pass to No. 9 hitter CJ McCartney resulted in a run after he stole second and scored on Ty Davis’ sacrifice fly.

Fort Frye's Clayton Miller delivers to the plate during the Cadets' 10-1 setback Tuesday to host Parkersburg South at Hank Greenburg Field. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“We’re playing some good baseball this year, which is obviously every coach’s goal, just a few things we need to step up and work on, especially now that we are on the downhill slide of our schedule heading into regions because they did cut out sections this year in West Virginia,” admitted coach Youngblood.

“We have a decent chance to contend at regionals. We needed to come out and play like this after losing to Charleston Catholic on Saturday. We needed a win like this to especially build up our confidence going to John Marshall tomorrow.”

Conner McMullen singled and scored in the fourth after McLain reached on an error and it was 6-0 after four when McLain crossed thanks to a sacrifice fly by Holliday, who went five frames and allowed five hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.

Fort Frye, now 5-4 with a Twin State League showdown set for 5 p.m. Thursday at Point Pleasant, finally dented the scoreboard in the top of the fifth.

A one-out single by Braylon Meek was followed by a bunt single from No. 9 hitter Wyatt Duskey. The bases were loaded for Grady Hesson after leadoff man Wade Duskey reached on an infield single, but the only run came via a bases-loaded RBI free pass that was issued to Jack McCurdy.

Fort Frye's Carter Brown dives back into first safely as Parkersburg South's Easton Walker awaits the throw during the Cadets' 10-1 setback Tuesday at Hank Greenburg Field. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“One day off and we go to Point on Thursday. Kind of sitting in a real good spot. We got Grady throwing again so feeling really good about it. We just got to find a way to manufacture some runs,” said coach Trey Engle, who watched Meek cover the final 2 2-3 innings. “It’s a learning curve. We’ve got a young team and as long as we are getting better every day we’ll be alright.

“Obviously they did what they had to do to manufacture runs with their hits and we did not. We did not find a way. I think our kids are getting better. Of course, tonight Miller, that’s the first time he’s ever been on the mound in four years. We’re trying some new things. I thought he threw well. He may have thrown too many strikes. You got people competing and throwing strikes, you can’t ask for anything more.”

Ben Howell punched out three in his two innings of relief of Holliday. He allowed a one-out pinch-hith single to Lowe in the seventh, but got Wade Duskey to hit into a game-ending 1-6-3 double play.

McCartney, McLain and Matthew Mullen each walked and scored in the sixth. Pinch-hitter Peyton West had a run-scoring single and Utt capped his big day with his second two-bagger, which plated a pair.

“Dyl(an) filled up the zone for us and let the defense play a little bit and then we bring in Ben Howell. Dyl’s throwing the ball really well this year,” added Youngblood. “He’s throwing the ball hard this year and has a lot of confidence. He got his 100th hit the other day against Charleston Catholic. He’s playing with a lot of confidence this year and of course he’s headed off to Marietta and he’ll do well over there. Ben’s been throwing the ball well this year and got a big win against Cabell Midland last week.

Parkersburg South first baseman Easton Walker tries to apply a sweep tag to Fort Frye's Wyatt Duskey during the Patriots' 10-1 victory Tuesday at Hank Greenburg Field. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“We needed a win. It’s not like it was a dire situation to get a win, but it’s always good to get one in the ‘W’ column. Landon threw the ball to second base really, really well. He’d been struggling a little bit with that and his mechanics and everything, and a lot of it is confidence, too. You got to get in a flow coming from a former catcher and everything and there’s got to be a flow to receiving the pitch and getting rid of it quickly to let your middle infielders make a play, and Landon looked good at the plate today.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com