Four seniors core of returnees for AAA baseball defending champ Hurricane

HURRICANE, W.Va. — Hurricane finally broke through a season ago, winning its first Class AAA state baseball championship since 2002.

The Redskins had plenty of contending teams in between the two titles, but never put the complete championship run together — until last year. Coach Brian Sutphin’s team edged Washington 3-1 in the state tournament semifinals and capped things off with a 9-2 championship win over Riverside.

“That was just a fun run for everybody – our community really enjoyed it,” Sutphin said. “We have had some heart-breaking losses to not get to the state tournament (in the past). To finally break through, get there and find a way to win it was really gratifying.

“We thought we had a really good team the year before,” Sutphin said. “We got beat 1-0 in a regional game where a kid just pitched a great game. That could have easily happened last year. When you get into regionals and it’s one game, anything can happen. That’s what makes high school sports so fun.”

The Redskins had eight seniors on that 2014 team — five of them started and all of them contributed. Still, Hurricane returned a solid core of veteran players this year as seniors Trey Dawson (LSU), JT Rogoszewski (North Carolina) and Tate Brock (WVU) are all signed to play college baseball at the D-I level.

“Those three guys have been through the wars,” Sutphin said. “They’ve been playing since they were freshmen. We lean on them to be leaders and be an extension of the coaching staff. Justin Crouch is our fourth senior and he had a great end of the year last year, making the all-tournament team.”

Hurricane won the Class AAA baseball state championship with a 3-1 semifinal win over Washington and 9-2 title win over Riverside.
Hurricane won the Class AAA baseball state championship with a 3-1 semifinal win over Washington and 9-2 title win over Riverside.

Crouch went 2-for-2 (including a double) as a DH in last year’s championship game, scoring a run and collecting two RBIs.

Behind those four seniors, Hurricane has a group of five juniors that are contributing this year as well. The Redskins opened the season with a 3-1 record, beating Spring Valley, Huntington and Cabell Midland, to go along with a one-run loss to Ripley.

“It’s still early and hard to tell a whole lot,” Sutphin said. “We should play solid defense and we’re strong through the middle. If we throw strikes and make the routine play on defense, it’ll just come down to putting the ball on play and putting pressure on (opposing) defenses. But with all that being said, it’s still hard to get a good feel on it for a while, being so early (in the year).”

Hurricane this year is trying to become the first Class AAA program to win back-to-back titles since Logan accomplished the feat as a AAA school in 2000 and 2001.

“In all sports, it’s difficult to repeat,” Sutphin said. “If there was a different format, it could be different. But when it’s a one-game deal in regionals, anything could happen. After you get through your sectional, you have to win four games in a row. Sometimes, it’s not just being solid with a good team and good pitching – you’re probably going to have to catch a break somewhere along the way.

“I do think this, the more times the players you have, no matter the sport, are put in those pressure situations, I think it helps,” he continued. “Those kids last year were to the point where the big stage didn’t affect them that much. With this group, that could be a strength as well. They’ve been fun to be around and they’re eager to improve and get better. I’ve enjoyed it and we’re looking for even better days ahead.”

HURRICANE
2015 Baseball Schedule


1 03/24/15 07:00PM H SPRING VALLEY  3 W
2 03/25/15 07:00PM A RIPLEY  5 L
3 03/27/15 07:00PM H CABELL MIDLAND  12 W
4 03/31/15 07:00PM A HUNTINGTON  12  7  W
5 04/03/15 5:30PM H WOODROW WILSON   
6 04/04/15 11:00AM H JEFFERSON   
7 04/07/15 05:30PM H CAPITAL   
8 04/08/15 05:00PM A LOUISVILLE TOURNEY   
9 04/09/15 05:00PM A LOUISVILLE TOURNEY   
10 04/10/15 05:00PM A LOUISVILLE TOURNEY   
11 04/14/15 07:00PM A NITRO   
12 04/15/15 06:00PM A PARKERSBURG   
13 04/17/15 05:00PM A ED CARTER TOURNEY   
14 04/18/15 02:00PM A ED CARTER TOURNEY   
15 04/20/15 07:00PM A POCA   
16 04/21/15 07:00PM A CABELL MIDLAND   
17 04/23/15 07:00PM H RIVERSIDE   
18 04/25/15 01:00PM A LOGAN   
19 04/27/15 05:00PM A LINCOLN COUNTY   
20 04/29/15 07:00PM H WINFIELD   
21 04/30/15 06:00PM A SOUTH CHARLESTON   
22 05/04/15 06:00PM H MSAC   
23 05/05/15 06:00PM H MSAC   
24 05/07/15 06:00PM H HUNTINGTON   
25 05/08/15 06:00PM A SPRING VALLEY   
26 05/11/15 06:00PM H LOGAN   
27 05/13/15 06:00PM H GEORGE WASHINGTON   
28 05/14/15 06:00PM A BOYD CO., KY H.S.   
 wins: 3   lost: 1   ties: 0

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