MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Scores and recaps from the West Virginia American Legion baseball tournament from Hawley Field in Morgantown.
Wednesday, July 30th
Game 1: South Charleston 4, Elkins 1
Max Maxson’s two run single in the 7th put South Charleston in the lead for good as Post 94 beat Elkins 4-1.
Trailing 1-0, Jordan Clark doubled with one out. After back to back walks, Maxson delivered, scoring Clark and Jake Payne. Brandon Wright also contributed in that frame with an RBI hit. Clark would then complete the scoring with an 8th inning sacrifice fly.
South Charleston starter Jerod Jobst struck out 10 through six innings for the win. Riley Metz pitched the final three innings for the save.
Game 2: Wheeling 7, Fairmont 6
Jameson Murray and Nick Naumann each had a pair of RBIs as Wheeling jumped out to an early 5-1 lead. Post 1 held on to beat Fairmont 7-6.
Centerfielder Justice Jackson scored two runs as Wheeling improved to 28-9.
Starter Mo Felt pitched into the 9th as he earned the win. Mario Peroni got the final two outs for the save as Fairmont scored three in the 9th to make it close.
James Bolander had three hits in a losing effort for Post 17.
Game 3: Morgantown 7, Potomac Valley 3
J.T. Stegmaier went the distance for the complete game win as Morgantown beat Potomac Valley 7-3 in the night cap of the first day of the American Legion state tournament.
Stegmaier struggled early as he allowed three runs in the first. But he managed to get stronger as the game moved along retiring nine in a row at one point.
WVU recruit Jimmy Galusky led the Post 2 offense with three doubles, three runs scored and three RBIs.
Thursday, July 31st
Game 4: Fairmont 4, Elkins 2 (Elkins eliminated)
Fairmont starter Austin Norman struck out nine in 8 2/3 innings as he pitched Fairmont to a 4-2 win over Elkins in the first elimination game of the state tournament.
Closer Fletcher Devaul got the final out as Elkins had moved the potential tying runs into scoring position in the 9th.
Elkins is the first team eliminated from the tournament.
Shortstop Chris Petrucci drove in two runs for Fairmont with a double and a sacrifice fly.
23-10 Fairmont will play again Friday at noon.
Game 5: South Charleston 13 vs. Potomac Valley 5 (Potomac Valley eliminated)
John Cline, Evan Potter and Jake Payne led the 19 hit attack for South Charleston as Post 94 eliminated Potomac Valley with 13-5 victory.
Payne hit the tournament’s first home run, a 2-run shot in the 5th. He and Potter each had three hits. Payne drove in four runs. Cline went 4-6 with two RBI.
John Bellomy pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings for the win in relief.
38-2 South Charleston will play at 3:30 tomorrow against the winner of tonight’s game between Morgantown and Wheeling in a game that will feature 2-0 teams.
Game 6: Morgantown 4, Wheeling 3
A deep drive by Travis Renner over the head of the left fielder scored Jimmy Galusky in the bottom of the 9th giving Morgantown a 4-3 walk off win over Wheeling. Galusky had doubled with one out to start the rally.
Tyler Shorter of Morgantown earned the complete game win. Shorter allowed just two earned runs on eight hits.
Friday, August 1st
Game 7: Fairmont 10, Wheeling 2 (Wheeling eliminated)
Fletcher DeVaul threw a complete game six hitting as Fairmont stayed alive with a 10-2 win over Wheeling.
DeVaul helped his own cause with a homer and five RBIs. Austin Norman went 4-5 as Fairmont banged out 16 hits.
Fairmont will return tonight at 7 p.m. to face the LOSER of the Morgantown/South Charleston game.
Game 8: South Charleston 4, Morgantown 1
South Charleston is in command of the tournament at 3-0 following a rain delayed 4-1 win over Morgantown.
Post 94 starter Riley Metz retired the first nine Morgantown batters prior to a four hour rain delay. Post 2 scored first after the delay on a Kurt Latocha hit.
But South Charleston took the lead for good with two runs in the 6th on RBI hits by Jordan Clark and Jake Payne. South Charleston scored two more in the 7th to put the game away.
Metz finished the game with ten strikeouts as he allowed six hits.
Friday’s final game was pushed back to Saturday as Morgantown will play Fairmont at noon in an elimination game. The winner will immediately play South Charleston in a title game.
Saturday, August 2nd
Game 9: Fairmont 11, Morgantown 1 (7 innings)
Fairmont jumped on Morgantown with seven runs in the first and Post 2 never recovered.
Austin Norman, James Bolander, Bailey Mohr, Tanner Lambert and Fletcher DuVaul all drove in runs in in that first inning.
Norman finished with three hits, three runs and two RBI. Chris Petrucci also had three hits.
Fairmont advanced to the championship round but it must beat South Charleston twice. The first game is Saturday afternoon. The second title game, if necessary, will be Sunday.
Game 10: Fairmont 8, South Charleston 7 (12 innings)
Austin Norman’s two run homer in the bottom of the 12th keeps Fairmont alive. The state championship game will take place at noon Sunday.
Sunday, August 3rd