HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL: O’Brien Outduels Richlands’ Barnett; Blues Knocked Out

PULASKI, Va.  – For the second straight season, Mikey O’Brien was as good as advertised.

The senior right-hander struck out 16 and allowed just one hit Thursday as Hidden Valley stopped previously unbeaten Richlands by a 2-0 margin in the Region IV baseball semifinals. O’Brien and HV defeated Richlands by a 5-2 margin in the 2007 quarterfinals.

In a schedule alteration, Hidden Valley (21-3) faces Abingdon today at 2 p.m. for the Region IV tournament championship at Calfee Park. Both teams have already advanced to the state quarterfinals.

As expected, Thursday’s game boiled down to a battle between the hard-throwing O’Brien and Richlands senior Jordan Barnett. Hidden Valley struck out nine times against the sidearming motion of Barnett, but collected eight hits and scored in the fifth and seventh innings.

“Give credit to O’Brien, he was really on,” Richlands coach Brad Strong said. “Hidden Valley also hit the ball and we didn’t. It was just Hidden Valley’s day.”

Richlands’ coach thought his ace deserved a better fate. Barnett suffered his first loss of the season against Hidden Valley for the second straight year.

“Those were probably the two best pitchers in the state out there,” Strong said. “Jordan kept us in the game, and we didn’t get it done at the plate. We had a great year, but it’s over and we have to move on.”

Leadoff batter Brad Strong collected the lone hit for Richlands, while Radford University-recruit Brett Mollenhauer supplied a run-scoring triple for HV in the seventh and scored in the fifth thanks in part to a Richlands error.

O’Brien, who entered the game with a near spotless ERA of 0.22, is now 11-0 with 133 strikeouts. The Hidden Valley ace has signed to play at Winthrop, but will likely be a high draft pick in the upcoming MLB draft.

Hidden Valley coach Jason Taylor paid credit to the Richlands ace, who held the Titans under four runs for the first time this season.

“We haven’t had to play many seven inning games,” Taylor said. “Barnett did a great job for Richlands. We just got some big hits and Mikey did his job.”

Hidden Valley   000       010       1-2       8         0
Richlands         000       000       0-0       1         1
O’Brien and Vess. Barnett and Elswick. W-O’Brien (11-0). L-Barnett .
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