(September 14) - The West Virginia Black Bears moved one step closer to a New-York Penn League Championship by defeating the Staten Island Yankees 4-3 in 11 innings in Game 1 of the League Championship Series on Monday night at Monongalia County Ballpark.

After Staten Island jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the second inning on a solo shot to left field by Zack Zehner, West Virginia didn't take long to respond. In the bottom of the third inning, the Black Bears got back-to-back singles from C Christian Kelley and LF Ty Moore before RF Logan Hill was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs. West Virginia's hottest hitter so far this postseason, 1B Carlos Munoz, stepped in the box and lined a ball to deep center field as he raced to third for a base-clearing hustle triple to give the Black Bears a 3-1 lead.

The teams remained scoreless until Staten Island threatened in the eighth inning. Pinch-hitter Drew Bridges drew a leadoff walk and then scored on a double by Zehner to cut the lead to 3-2. Zehner then advanced to third on a groundout to second before scoring on another groundout to tie the score at 3-3.

Munoz led the tenth inning off with a single up the middle but was left stranded as the game went on to the 11th inning. 2B Mitchell Tolman started off the 11th with a single to center field and advanced to second on a throwing error. Kelley then walked before Moore advanced the runners to second and third on a sacrifice bunt with one out. DH Daniel Arribas crushed a line drive single to center field to bring home Tolman and give the Black Bears a 4-3 win after 11 innings.

SP Jonathan Brubaker was given the start on Monday night and proved exactly why he was the man for the job. The right-hander tossed 6.0 scoreless frames, giving up only two hits while striking out six Staten Island batters. RP Tate Scioneaux was lights out from the bullpen, pitching 3.0 scoreless innings with four strikeouts. RP Daniel Zamora picked up the win (1-0) after hurling a scoreless 11th inning.

Munoz continued to stay hot in the playoffs for the Black Bears, finishing the night 2-for-4 with 3 RBI while Tolman, Kelley, and Moore also registered two hits on Monday night. Arribas collected the other RBI for West Virginia, coming on his walkoff single in the 11th inning.

The Black Bears will now travel Staten Island as the teams will play Game 2 of the New York-Penn League Championship Series on Tuesday, September 15 at Richmond County Bank Ballpark with a scheduled first pitch 7:00 p.m. SP Dario Agrazal will be on the mound for West Virginia while the Yankees will pitch James Kaprielian.

For additional information, call 304-293-8422.