LOST CREEK, W.Va. — South Harrison this week won its first baseball sectional championship since 2010, eliminating one of the state’s Class A championship favorites in the process.
A 5-1 victory over Notre Dame on Monday night kept South Harrison’s hopes alive for a first ever state tournament berth, while abruptly knocking the 2014 state runners-up out of the postseason.
“Pitching and defense is a big part of this game – we didn’t make an error on (Monday night) and we’re fielding at about 94 percent on the year,” said head coach Frank Tate. “I like our chances against anyone, but we have to play. It doesn’t matter who it is.”
South Harrison (16-11) dropped the first game in the best-of-three series 5-2 on Thursday of last week — it was the fifth straight loss for Tate’s club.
But what a difference a few days can make.
A 6-2 win on Friday, behind Braeden Hurst’s eight strikeouts on the mound, reignited the Hawks, forcing a final game three set for the following Saturday. South Harrison led in that contest 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning before rain pushed the game back to Monday of this week to be completed.
With 6-foot-3 junior, and game one starter, Ian Riggleman back on the mound, the Hawks closed out the sectional title win, scoring three combined runs in the fifth and sixth to put the game away.
“Baseball is a funny game,” Tate said. “We’re just excited to be able to play in a regional, because it’s been a longtime coming.”
Whether the rest of the state was aware or not (until Monday, at least), the Hawks entered this season with raised expectations and hopes of re-capturing a sectional crown over the Irish.
“We weren’t panicked at all. We knew that we could beat (Notre Dame),” Tate said. “We’ve been working for this and really thought we could make a little bit of noise this year. It’s a great group of kids and we knew (success) would come if we just let it.”
Hurst and Riggleman have been at the core of that success as two of five junior starters on the team. Hurst boasts a 1.56 ERA on the mound and 41 strikeouts, while Riggleman has 45 strikeouts on the season.
Another junior, Jacob Montgomery also has 42 strikeouts on the year and a 2.72 ERA.
“Ian (Riggleman) is the hard thrower, he’s tall and lanky,” Tate said. “Braeden (Hurst) paints the corners and has some good off-speed stuff as well. He’s a pitcher. Josh West out of our bullpen is 3-0 with a 0.31 ERA. We have some pitching – Ian and Braedon have been who we turn to in pivotal games, and they’ve been throwing since they were freshmen.”
Offensively, Riggleman leads the Hawks with a .433 average — he set a school record earlier this season with a 19-game hitting streak. Hurst, the school’s all-time career leader in steals, is hitting .379 on the year, while sophomore Dakota Jarrett is batting .378 with 14 doubles and 29 RBIs.
Montgomery, meanwhile, is hitting .322 and has committed only one error at first base this season.
“There has been no one guy who has been the hero every night,” Tate said. “It’s been a different guy showing up each night and that’s what you have to have.”
The Hawks will face Tygarts Valley in the Class A regional semifinals on Tuesday, May 26. The winner of that game moves on to face either Pendleton County or Moorefield in the regional final.
“This is where I went to school and I wanted to build the program up,” Tate said. “Hopefully this can be the year that we get to the state tournament, but we’ll see what happens and right now we’re just going to focus on Tygarts Valley.”
The Hawks are 16-10 all-time against Tygarts Valley, but the two teams haven’t met since 2010. South Harrison advanced to the regional final back in 2009, falling to eventual state champion Moorefield 6-1.
“All of those regular season games, I think any coach will tell you, are all just exhibition scrimmages until the postseason,” Tate said. “When the postseason starts, everyone goes back to 0-0 and anyone can win.”
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| SOUTH HARRISON 2015 Baseball Schedule |
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| 1 | 03/30/15 | 05:00PM | A | GILMER COUNTY | 7 | – | 0 | W |
| 2 | 04/01/15 | 05:00PM | A | PARKERSBURG CATHOLIC | 1 | – | 3 | L |
| 3 | 04/02/15 | 04:00PM | A | NOTRE DAME | 3 | – | 17 | L |
| 4 | 04/06/15 | 3:00PM | H | CLAY COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL | 8 | – | 3 | W |
| 5 | 04/06/15 | 05:00PM | H | CLAY COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL | 6 | – | 5 | W |
| 6 | 04/07/15 | 05:00PM | H | ST. MARYS | 5 | – | 7 | L |
| 7 | 04/10/15 | 06:00PM | A | BUFFALO | 16 | – | 1 | W |
| 8 | 04/11/15 | 02:30PM | A | LIBERTY (RALEIGH) | 1 | – | 3 | L |
| 9 | 04/11/15 | 12:00PM | A | MAN HIGH SCHOOL | 3 | – | 7 | L |
| 10 | 04/13/15 | 05:30PM | H | WEBSTER COUNTY | 14 | – | 4 | W |
| 11 | 04/15/15 | 05:00PM | A | BRAXTON COUNTY | 1 | – | 0 | W |
| 12 | 04/17/15 | 05:00PM | A | CALHOUN COUNTY | 12 | – | 2 | W |
| 13 | 04/18/15 | 2:00PM | H | ROBERT C. BYRD | 12 | – | 5 | W |
| 14 | 04/20/15 | 7:30PM | H | DODDRIDGE COUNTY | 13 | – | 1 | W |
| 15 | 04/20/15 | 05:00PM | H | DODDRIDGE COUNTY | 10 | – | 0 | W |
| 16 | 04/21/15 | 05:00PM | H | ROANE COUNTY | 7 | – | 4 | W |
| 17 | 04/23/15 | 05:00PM | A | BRAXTON COUNTY | 4 | – | 5 | L |
| 18 | 04/24/15 | 07:00PM | H | GILMER COUNTY | 5 | – | 1 | W |
| 19 | 04/27/15 | 04:30PM | H | TYLER CONSOLIDATED | 12 | – | 2 | W |
| 20 | 04/29/15 | 5:00PM | H | TUCKER COUNTY | 6 | – | 2 | W |
| 21 | 05/01/15 | 4:30PM | A | BRIDGEPORT SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL | 0 | – | 14 | L |
| 22 | 05/04/15 | 6:00PM | A | WILLIAMSTOWN | 3 | – | 4 | L |
| 23 | 05/05/15 | 5:30PM | A | LINCOLN | 3 | – | 10 | L |
| 24 | 05/07/15 | 05:00PM | A | ST. MARYS | 3 | – | 8 | L |
| 25 | 05/14/15 | 7:00PM | A | NOTRE DAME | 2 | – | 5 | L |
| 26 | 05/15/15 | 7:00PM | H | NOTRE DAME | 6 | – | 2 | W |
| 27 | 05/18/15 | 7:00PM | A | NOTRE DAME | 5 | – | 1 | W |
| 28 | 05/20/15 | 5:00PM | H | GILMER COUNTY | – | |||
| 29 | 05/23/15 | 12:00PM | H | LIBERTY (Harrison) | – | |||
| wins: 16 lost: 11 ties: 0 | ||||||||