By Bees O’Brien

EMPORIUM- A jam packed week and pitch counts can usually be a headache for a high school baseball coach. Bucktail head coach Casey Friese continues to find silver linings during his first season at the helm of the Bucks’ program.

Bucktail headed into District 9 territory on Wednesday afternoon to square off against a Cameron County squad that has been a traditional D9 1A playoff team.

Bucktail pitchers Xander Shearer and Cael Dorman started the game and struggled to find the strike zone and with no options remaining and three more games scheduled this week, Friese had to think outside the box.

Friese would call on sophomore Austin Mosher, who had no varsity experience on the mound.

Mosher entered the game in the bottom of the first inning with the Red Raiders already up 9-0 on the Bucks.

Mosher would strike out the side and controlled Cameron County’s offense for the remainder of the game, only allowing 4 hits over the next 5 innings and would fan a total of four Red Raider batters and only allowed a single walk.

The Bucks would cross their only two runs in the top of the fourth inning when Keller Friese and Gavin Pick would both score. Cameron County extended their lead to 10-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Red Raiders would tack on a final insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning to lock up the victory.

Despite the loss, Friese had positive things to say in regards to the Cameron County program.

“They were a super good group of kids and coaches.” Said Friese “The umpires were really good too, hopefully we can keep Cameron County on the schedule.”

The Red Raiders were new to the Bucktail schedule and are part of a continued effort to keep Bucktail venturing into District 9 for opponents in various sports. Bucktail baseball still has a pair of games against D9 opponents Northern Potter on their schedule.

Keller Friese and Gavin Pick led the Bucks at the plate with two hits each. Friese had a double, while Pick collected an RBI and a run scored. Braylon Fantaski and Kyler Friese each added hits for the Bucks.

Bucktail (0-6) is scheduled to meet rival Sugar Valley on Thursday afternoon, but the current forecast for that game doesn’t look promising. They will then head to Shamokin for a tournament on Saturday and are slated to play a pair of games.