SHEPHERDSTOWN – Ever since the baseball days of Uncle Wilbert Robinson and Ol’ Hoss Radbourne, errors have played a significant role in the winning and losing of games.

“To err is human” wasn’t necessarily talking about baseball, but it could have been the title of Jefferson’s 6-0 win over previously unbeaten Hedgesville last week, in a make-up game played at Sager Field on a crisp early season night.

The Eagles committed five errors, leaking three unearned runs to the Cougars, who improved to 6-1 overall.

As is often the case, left-handed batting high school players rarely hit the ball with any authority against any kind of left-handed pitcher. And Jefferson sophomore left-hander Zac Rose literally had no trouble with Hedgesville’s three left-handed batters, moving quickly through them and leaving them a combined 0-for-9 against him.

Rose would strike out eight in his 4.2 innings of work, and was never more impressive than he was in the second when two “seeing eye” singles that traveled a combined 75-feet and a walk on a 3-2 pitch loaded the bases against him with no outs.

Rose fanned Jameson Matthew, induced Tyler Bubb to pop out to the shortstop and ended the Eagle threat by getting the left-handed batting J.T. Luttrell to ground out to second.

Three Hedgesville errors and Kamian Gonzalez’s first of three singles gave Rose a 2-0 working margin in the Cougar second.

Neither side threatened again until the Hedgesville fifth. Rose issued his second walk, but then retired the next two men. When he fell behind the next man, Dylan McCartney was summoned from the bullpen and completed another walk. McCartney also uncorked a wild pitch to move the runners to second and third. Chase Delauter was given an intentional walk to load the bases.

McCartney got Brady Weaver to ground back to him . . . and the Hedgesville inning had not produced any runs.

Going to the last of the sixth, Jefferson had three hits. The Cougars added four more hits in the sixth, and, more importantly, tacked on four more runs to move in front, 6-0.

McCartney had fanned two men in the sixth, and he did the same in the seventh to close out his 2.1 innings of relief with a total of four strikeouts, giving him and Rose 12 strikeouts on the night. McCartney earned a save with his work.

Gonzalez totaled three RBIs and Cory Daly added two hits to the Cougar offense.

Hedgesville was unbeaten no more . . . so, to complete the adage about “erring,” the Cougars did not “to forgive is divine.” And had defeated area foes Martinsburg, Musselman and Hedgesville without any losses to local teams.