CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Haunted and hungered by a year’s worth of flashbacks, the Herbert Hoover baseball team returns to the state tournament, to the scene of 2012’s near-miss.
The Huskies were 1-0 losers to Wyoming East in last season’s Class AA state final, beaten on a seventh-inning wild pitch that was the sliver-thin margin between euphoria and deflation.
Live broadcast streaming of all tournament games at WVMetroNews,com, along with postgame coverage, interviews and video.
This time around, with much of its nucleus still intact, Hoover aims to leave Appalachian Power Park with the top prize.
“Getting there is not just an option anymore for our players,” said Hoover coach Brian Young. “Now they’ve had a taste of what it’s like and they want to win it.”
In Thursday night’s semifinal, Hoover (29-3) faces Independence (19-8). That follows the Bridgeport (30-6) vs. Fairmont Senior (26-6) matchup scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
For the second straight season, leadoff man Corey Bird jumpstarts the Hoover attack. Along with a .489 batting average, the Marshall University-bound senior has 53 stolen bases.
“He sets the table for us all the time, and opposing teams know they have to pitch to him because once he gets on base he’s going to be running,” Young said. “It’s really a benefit to our team the way he manufactures runs by moving himself around the base paths.”
Bird maximizes his speed by seemingly always putting the ball in play — he has a combined four strikeouts during the past two seasons. And the lineup behind him has capable run producers in shortstop Ryan Shamblin (.446) and Austin Thomas (.434), each of whom have 38 RBIs. There’s also the team’s RBI leaders with 42 — Shaun Dotson and Tristan Fields — as well as cleanup hitter Cody Bowen (.413).
Fields, who has a team-high five homers, will likely start Thursday night’s game on the mound, where he owns a 7-1 record.
Hoover won its only state crown in 2007, while Independence claimed its one banner in 1990.
BRIDGEPORT vs. FAIRMONT SENIOR
The other Class AA state semifinal features two-time champion Bridgeport (2000 and 1993) and a seven-time runner-up in Fairmont Senior.
Bridgeport coach Robert Shields wouldn’t tip his hand as to Thursday’s starter, a decision that most likely boils down to junior Anthony Bonamico (5-1) or Josh Boggio (5-1) or Brett Rhodes (5-2).
Bonamico has endured a difficult athletic year, sidelined for most of the football season with three broken metatarsals in his left foot, and then reinsuring the foot before basketball season. The Indians wound up reaching the state semifinals in both sports, and hope to go a step higher in the baseball tournament.
“Our kids are patient at the plate and they do the little things with hitting situations that you ask them to do,” Shields said. “We’ve had an ugly inning or two this year and they don’t get rattled.”
The Indians are led by catcher Troy Anderson (.355 average, five homers, 46 RBIs), along with first baseman Tyler Skidmore (.371), shortstop Greg Smith (.358) and second baseman Tyler Marks (.341).
Fairmont Senior has a standout starting pitcher in Andrew Strand (6-0, 0.81 ERA) and an equally capable No. 2 in Matt Robbins (5-2, 0.84).
The Polar Bears’ top hitter is Fletcher DeVaul (.511), who also owns a 6-2 pitching mark.