Wheeling fends off Parkersburg for three-peat of legion state titles
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BECKLEY -- The two best stories as the West Virginia American Legion State Baseball Tournament unfolded came together Monday with focus on the ultimate ending.
Wheeling's pitching against Parkersburg's perseverance.
And while the game was not, as they say, aesthetically pleasing, it ended with a nice round No. 20 for Wheeling Post 1.
Wheeling fell behind 4-0 in the second inning but immediately responded with a six-spot, scored five more in the third and then held off Parkersburg Post 15 11-8 for its third consecutive West Virginia state
championship on AccessHealth Field at Linda K. Epling Stadium.
Not only is it Wheeling's third straight state title, but it's the 20th in program history.
"I think that’s the first time I actually heard somebody say it out loud," Wheeling coach Scott Castilow said. "So that’s definitely an accomplishment to be proud of."
The way things had been going, No. 20 looked to be a foregone conclusion for Wheeling (29-7). Going into the title game, Wheeling pitching had allowed one run and 12 hits over 25 innings in going 4-0.
And things looked to be headed in that direction when Wheeling starter Jake Brown cruised through a perfect first.
An inning later, Parkersburg flipped the script. They got to Brown for four runs in the second, all with two outs. Seth Menarchek delivered the key hit, a bases-clearing single for the first three runs of the game.
However, Wheeling sent its own message by sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring six runs in the bottom half.
"That was huge," Castilow said. "That could have gotten away from us really quickly if not. For them to be able to answer right back off of that, and in the following inning to put up another pretty good spot (five in the third), it was huge. Looking at the scoreboard, that was it. That’s all we had. So it could have been easily a different story today if that response wasn’t there."
No. 9 hitter Braxton Billick had the big blow in the inning for Wheeling, emptying the bases with a triple to right field.
"We’ve kind of moved him around the lineup all year, but we like him as a second leadoff guy," Castilow said. "We like him down there so he can roll us over to the top. He's been excellent for us all year."
That Parkersburg (20-11) was even in position to win a championship was unlikely.
Parkersburg lost to Berkeley 8-4 in the first game of the tournament Thursday morning. Berkeley scored three runs in the second inning and five in the third of that game.
Fighting through the losers bracket, Parkersburg picked up a 9-7 win over Bridgeport Post 68 on Friday, then scored 10 runs over the final three innings in Saturday's 11-9 win over Beckley Post 32.
Then they showed they had every intention of keeping the momentum rolling on Monday.
"We weren’t here to play for a runner-up trophy," Parkersburg coach Mike Goodwin said. "We were here to compete and go for it, and we did. We jumped out with four runs early on, but we made some miscues in the
field which really hurt us and set us back a little bit."
Parkersburg committed three errors that led to five unearned runs and Wheeling led 11-6 after the third.
Still, Parkersburg kept coming after chasing Brown.
Brady Ernest came out in the fourth to relieve him and had to battle repeatedly. Parkersburg loaded the bases with nobody out in both the fourth and fifth. Each time, however, Ernest kept them to one run.
Menarchek and C.J. McCartney both had a sacrifice fly for the second out, but each time Wheeling conceded the run and focused on making sure the runner on second couldn't tag up and advance to third. Ernest then
got the third out to escape from each jam.
"Just for him to be able to limit the damage is huge," Castilow said, "because those two innings could have been, once again, completely different scenarios. It could have been a three-spot, a four-spot, or it
could have been a two-spot. But for them to only be able to get one out of them, it was huge."
Ernest, the winning pitcher, got through the sixth on five pitches, then faced trouble again in the seventh when Wyatt Boice and Preston West opened with consecutive singles. But Ernest got the next three batters
in order to set off a celebration.
West was 4 for 4 for Parkersburg.
"We weren’t supposed to be here, or expected much of anything from," Goodwin said. "I couldn’t be any more proud of the effort from the beginning. We could have rolled over and just gone home early, but we
didn’t. We were determined to fight back, and we did. It just speaks to the character of the team. I just thank God for giving us a fantastic week, and and can’t thank (the City of) Beckley enough. And really,
Wheeling is the best team in this state, and they deserve it."
Billick and C.J. Upton both drove in three runs for Wheeling, which will play in the Southeast Regional Aug. 5-9 in Cherryville, N.C.
"It wasn’t the way we kind of drew it up," Castilow said. "It wasn’t our prettiest game by any stretch, and and I've got to give credit to Parkersburg, man. We knew that we were going to be in for a dogfight, and Goody does a great, great job with those guys. We knew it was going to be a battle, and it was. It absolutely was. But, at the end of the day, when it comes down to that last final out, I’m pleased that we were on the other side of it."
All-Tournament Team:
Degan Williams, Zach Hunt (Beckley); Lucas Williamson, Jaxon Hare (Potomac Valley); Luke Gordon, Eli Smith (South Charleston); Marshall Derrick, Andrew Engle (Berkeley); Cooper Cancade, Peyton West (Parkersburg); Chris Upto, Steven Brodegard (Wheeling).
Tournament MVP: Jake Brown, Wheeling