WEIRTON – The Weir baseball team’s offense came alive at the right time to keep the fourth-seeded Red Riders alive in the postseason.

Trailing Tyler Consolidated by a run, Weir recorded the tying run in the top of the fifth inning, and the Red Riders plated the winning run in the seventh as they defeated the fifth-seeded Knights, 2-1, in a West Virginia Class AA Region 1 Elimination Game Saturday afternoon up at the Weir High Baseball Field.

Weir retired Tyler Consolidated in order in the top of the seventh to give itself a chance to winning it in the bottom half of the inning, and the boys from Hancock County came through in the clutch.

First, catcher Nick DeMatteis singled to start the inning, and he advanced to third on a single by Aleks Zanieski giving the victors runners on the corners. Then, Zanieski stole second before Cayden Braswell singled to center scoring DeMatteis with the game-winning run sending the hosts into celebration mode.

With the win, Weir (17-17) advanced to play No. 1 seed Wheeling Central in the regional final Monday. Wheeling Central won to advance to the state tournament.

Mathew Greer went the distance on the mound to record the win for the Red Riders on Saturday. Geer struck out four while walking one.

Reese Davis went the distance and took the loss for the Knights (15-18). Davis struck out three and walked four.

The Red Riders ended up outhitting the hosts, 7-6, however, five of their hits came in the last three innings.

Down 1-0, Weir rallied to knot the score in the fifth. Liam Williamson led off the inning by hitting a single to center before moving up to second on a wild pitch. Then, Williamson advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Teddy Glyptis. Nico Glass was walked to put a pair of runners on base before DeMatteis grounded out to second scoring Williamson with the tying run.

The home team had an opportunity to take the lead in the sixth, however, the Red Riders ended up leaving the bases loaded. Geer singled to begin the inning, and the pitcher advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kason Lash. After a pop-up resulted in the second out, Williamson was hit by a pitch and Glyptis walked to load the bases, however, Davis was able to get out of the inning unscathed thanks to another pop-up.

The Silver-and-Black collected a run in the first to take the early lead. With two outs, Gary Shortridge doubled to center giving the Knights the first baserunner of the game. Then, Landon Boggs singled for the first of three times in the game scoring Shortridge to give Tyler Consolidated at 1-0 advantage. Geer struck out the next batter to get out of the inning.

Offensively for Weir, DeMatteis tallied two singles and an RBI, and Lash doubled.

For Tyler Consolidated, Brayden Neff and Patrick Jones each ended up with a single.

Weir opened the tournament by defeating Tyler Consolidated, 4-1, in the first round last Monday at home before falling to Wheeling Central setting up a rematch between Weir and the boys from Tyler County.

Weir 2, Tyler Consolidated 1

Tyler Consolidated 100 000 0 – 1 6 1

Weir 000 010 1 – 2 7 0

TYLER CONSOLIDATED (15-18): Davis LP (3K, 4BB) and Boggs. Neff S; Shortridge D; Boggs 3S, RBI; Jones S.

WEIR (17-17): Geer WP (4K, 1BB) and DiMatteis. DiMatteis 2S, RBI; Zanieski S; Braswell S, RBI; Geer S; Lash D; Williamson S.