Photo courtesy of the WVSSAC ON THE MOUND - Madonna pitcher Jacob Lazear throws during Saturday's Class A state quarterfinal.

HUNTINGTON – The sixth-seeded Madonna baseball team loss to third-seeded Sherman was self inflicted.

The Tide took advantage of a bunch of free bases as they defeated the Blue Dons, 10-0, via the run rule in five innings in a West Virginia Class A State Quarterfinal Saturday night inside Marshall’s Jack Cook Field.

“We had a good gameplan going in, but when you allow as many free bases as we did, it is tough to stay in the game,” Madonna (16-14) head coach TJ Miller said. “We had 11 combined walks, and like 15 combined passed balls and wild pitches. When you do that, it is hard to stay in the game.

“Hats off to Sherman. They played a great game. Their pitcher – Tagliente – kept us off-balance. He changed speeds. We only had two hits. When you only have two hits, it is tough to stay in the ballgame.”

With the win, Sherman (25-8) will play No. 7 seed Pendleton County in the semifinals at 10 a.m. Thursday. Pendleton County defeated No. 2 seed and defending state champion East Hardy, 8-4, in the quarterfinals. The Cougars defeated the Blue Dons, 10-7, in nine innings last season to win the state championship.

Jacob Lazear started on the mound and took the loss for the boys from Hancock County. Lazear struck out two while walking seven in 1 2/3 innings of work. He was replaced by Reno Fuscardo with two outs in the second. Fuscardo struck out two and walked four in his 2 1/3 innings of relief work. Evan Kaczmarek replaced Fuscardo in the fifth, but he did not record an out before the game’s conclusion.

Luke Tagliente collected the win for Sherman. Tagliente struck out seven without walking a batter.

Sherman had an opportunity to strike first in the bottom of the first. Elijah Jeffrey walked with one out, and Brayden Hamrick singled to right to give the Tide two baserunners. Both runners advanced base on a wild pitch, however, Jeffrey was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a fielder’s choice hit by catcher Avery Skeens. Cash Plantz came in to run for his team’s backstop, and he moved to second on a catcher’s indifference with Hamrick still at third. Sherman had two runners in scoring position, however, a strikeout ended the threat keeping the game scoreless.

The Tide had another opportunity to take the lead in the second, and this time they were able to cash in as Sherman scored five runs on just one hit. JonAaron Seacrist singled to left to start the inning, and he ended up scoring thanks to three passed balls giving the boys from Boone County a 1-0 lead. Oliver Harless – the second Sherman batter of the inning – drew a walk before moving to third on a pair of passed balls. Harless scored his team’s second run on a wild pitch enabling Colby Atkins, who walked, to move up to third. Then, Atkins scored on a sacrifice fly by Chase Southern to increase Sherman’s advantage to 3-0.

With the bases empty, Tagliente walked, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on another passed ball to extend the Tide’s advantage to 4-0. After a strikeout, Hamrick drew a walk, stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball. Skeens followed by drawing his team’s fifth walk of the inning before Plants, who came in to run for Skeens once again, moved to second on a defensive indifference. Hamrick scored on a passed ball making it 5-0 enabling Plants to move up to third.

Brady Perdue drew the victors sixth walk of the inning, however, he was thrown out trying to steal second to finally bring the inning to an end.

“We had that one really bad inning,” Miller said. “Their pitcher kept us off-balance. We couldn’t get momentum on our side. We gave up too many free bases. We had too many passed balls and wild pitches.

“I am super proud of the guys. We had a young team this season, and the kids responded. I think we surprised a lot of people this season. Hopefully, they will use what happened yesterday as fuel to get back here again.”

Another walk led to another Sherman scoring chance in the third. Atkins drew a two-out walk, and he stole second to move himself into scoring position, however, he ended up getting picked off to end the inning.

The Tide added to their lead in the fourth. Tagliente walked with one out, stole second and scored on a single to center by Jeffrey to give Sherman a 6-0 lead. Jeffrey moved to second on the throw, advanced to third on a passed ball before scoring on another one to make the score, 7-0.

Then, Hamrick reached on an error and moved to second on a passed ball to give his team a runner in scoring position, however, a flyout ended the inning.

Sherman ended the game with three runs in the fifth.

Seacrist started the fifth by drawing a walk, and Harless was also issued a free pass to give the Tide two more baserunners. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch before Seacrist scored on a passed ball making the score, 8-0. Harless scored on a single to center by Akins making it a 9-0 ballgame.

Atkins then stole second and advanced to third on a fielder’s choice as Southern reached on the play. Southern took second on a defensive indifference. Then, Tagliente singled to left scoring Atkins bringing the game to an end.

“We knew coming into this season that we had a young team,” Miller said. “We lost two starters to transfers, and we lost four starters from last year’s team. When you lose six of nine starters from the year before, it is tough.

“We had some new pieces this season. We set goals every year. We want to compete for an OVAC title, and we want to compete for a state title. We fell short of reaching both of those goals. We set good goals for the program. We want to be the type of program that competes for a state title every year whether in Charleston or Huntington. We want to compete for a state title year in and year out.

“We want that to be a staple of this program. We want to have that mindset. We want to compete for state titles. The kids have bought in. We had a young team this season. We had some success this season. We want to continue to work hard in the summer, fall and winter. We want to make this a staple of our program. We want to compete for a state title every year.”

Fuscardo led off the first with a single for the locals, but he was stranded there. Evan Kaczmarek singled to start the fifth, however, he was wiped out as part of a double play.

“From Day 1 until now, I think we have made great strides,” Miller said. “We had a very young group this season. They had young baseball minds. They were able to grow throughout the season. We made great strides. We made significant improvements.

“We made great strides. The coaching staff pushed the kids, and the kids responded. We pushed them in the regionals, and they responded. We made a lot of progress this season, and that speaks volumes about our kids.

“We had two seniors, and they did a great job leading this team. They’re two great guys. They have meant a lot to this program the past four seasons. We are going to miss them next season, but they did a great job of leading the team.”

The game was the final one for Madonna’s two seniors – Sam Brooks and Lazear.

“I love Sam and Jacob,” Miller said. “They are great kids. They are great young men. They are very coachable. They are great leaders. They did a great job. I will forever be in their corner. If they need something, all they have to do is give me a call.

“They led this team. They put in a lot of work in in the summer and in the winter, and it showed. They were our two best hitters. All of their hard work paid dividends for us. Hopefully, the younger guys see how hard they worked, and they will do the same going into next year.”

The two seniors will be difficult to replace, however, Madonna returns a good nucleus from this season’s squad, and the Blue Dons will get an influx of talent next season with some of this year’s eighth graders joining the team.

“We will have a very small group coming in next year,” Miller said. “We will have a very-god nucleus coming back. We are only losing two seniors. We will have a small group coming in. We will have some solid players coming in. We want to take that next step. Hopefully, the kids work hard in the summer, the fall and in the winter. If we do that, I think we can have a lot of success next season.”

The day began with plenty of excitement as the Blue Dons received a nice sendoff from their fans before hitting the road to Huntington.

“The administration, the community and the school did a great job for us,” Miller said. “I am very thankful for Madonna, the administration, the community, the parents and the fans. They followed us all season long. I am very thankful for everything the administration, the community, the school, the fans and the parents have done.”

In the other quarterfinals, No. 1 seed Huntington St. Joseph’s defeated No. 8 seed Trinity Christian, 11-3, and No. 4 seed Gilmer County defeated No. 5 seed Greater Beckley Christian, 10-3.

“I am super proud of all of these kids,” Miller said. “We were young, and I think we surprised a lot of people. We grew a lot. The coaching staff coaches the kids very hard, and the kids responded. The kids did a great job. We are going to continue to coach the kids very hard.”

Sherman 10, Madonna 0

Madonna 000 000 0 – 0 2 1

Sherman 050 230 0 – 10 5 0

MADONNA (16-14): Lazear LP (1 2/3IP, 2K, 7BB), Fuscardo (2 1/3IP, 2K, 4BB), Kaczmarek (0IP, 0K, 0BB) and Lancaster and Michael (2). Fuscardo S; Kaczmarek S;

SHERMAN (25-8): Tagliente WP (5IP, 7K, 0BB) and Skeens. Taglienete S, RBI; Jeffrey S, RBI; Hamrick S; Seacrist S; Atkins S, RBI; Southern RBI.