CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Three of the four high school baseball Class AAA state tournament participants from a season ago have found their way back to Charleston again, including defending champion Jefferson.
Sizing up the semifinal pairings, which will be live-streamed at WVMetroNews.com:
Wheeling Park (14-12) vs. Jefferson (34-3), Friday, 5 p.m.
Jefferson won 37 games in 2015 and an 11th state title in the process. The Cougars returned several key pieces for this year’s postseason run, including 29 pitching wins from a season ago.
Left-handers Brad Davis (10-0, 0.82 ERA) and Austin Cross (9-1, 0.58) anchor a staff with an overall ERA of just 1.17.
“We felt like coming into the season that we had a chance to have some success – that’s the way that it has turned out,” said veteran Jefferson coach John Lowery. “We pitch well, we catch the ball in the field and the top of our order gives us enough offensive punch that we’ve been able to have success.”
Shortstop Paul Witt, a VCU signee, enters the state tournament hitting .514 with 54 runs and 33 RBIs. Austin Bulman leads Jefferson with a .520 average, 46 RBIs and 34 runs.
The Cougars are facing a Wheeling Park team that is making its third straight state tournament appearance. It’s a Patriots team that has been much better of late than its 14-12 record would indicate – Wheeling Park started off the year in an 0-5 hole at a tournament in Florida.
“Wheeling Park is traditionally one of the premiere athletic schools in the state,” Lowery said. “They’ve been to the state tournament now three years in a row. Their record is a little bit misleading. They had a rocky start, as far as results were concerned, but I’m sure they benefited from the experience.”
Wheeling Park’s previous two appearances at the state tournament resulted in close semifinal losses with eventual WVU pitcher Michael Grove on the mound in both games—the 2014 loss to Riverside and 2015 loss to Nitro. Despite losing Grove, the Patriots have picked up right where they left off, looking to breakthrough.
“That’s baseball,” said Wheeling Park coach Mike McLeod. “Sometimes it’s matchups. Sometimes, our best just isn’t good enough. But we’re excited for the opportunity. We’re going to have to play perfect baseball. Jefferson is going to play perfect baseball and we have to try to match them inning for inning.”
Juniors Austin Crebs and Jub Delbrugge have led the way on the mound this season for the Patriots. Spencer Rogers, Tyler Cooley, Zane Hummel and Isaac Turner have been a few of the other leaders for the Patriots overall.
“We don’t have any superstars,” McLeod said. “We just try to do everything the right way and put the ball in play. Our program is getting there.
What I do know is that if you’re not playing in Charleston, you have no chance of winning a state championship,” he continued. “We’re going to battle and we’ll have nothing to hang our heads about. We battled to the last out in our previous two state tournament games and that’s what we plan on doing again this year.”
Ripley (24-11) vs. Nitro (23-10), Friday, approximately 8 p.m.
Ripley is back in the state tournament for the first time since 2004 and looking to add to their championships from 1997 and 2004. Coach Shane Casto was the starting shortstop for that 1997 team and an assistant on the 2004 squad.
“It’s been a long 12 years,” Casto said. “This will be as special or more than the other two state tournament trips. You just don’t understand that feeling until you get to the state tournament and I’m glad that these kids get to experience something that I’ve gotten to.
“Ripley baseball has been good for as long as I can remember and to be able to see this group of kids get better and better, it’s very special. This is huge for us.”
After a gut-wrenching regional final loss in 2015 to Greenbrier East, the Vikings had high expectations again for 2016, only to split their first 14 games.
“We were 7-7, but against very, very good competition. We played in three or four tournaments this year and then an MSAC schedule,” Casto said. “But we made some changes at a Super Prep Showcase in Louisville and it gave us a spark. We knew the pieces of the puzzle were there, it was just putting them together.”
Since that lineup/position shuffle on April 9, the Vikings have gone 17-4.
Christopher Jordan (9-1, 1.31 ERA) leads Ripley on the mound, while Luke Layhew (5-3, 2.46) threw a no-hitter in the regional final win over Woodrow Wilson. Jordan has been spectacular at the plate, entering the week with a .586 batting average, 39 RBIs and 52 runs.
Anthony Jarvis, Cody Pittenger and Jared Bumpus have all been around the .400 mark. Lane Casto, Remy Boyce, Layhew and Gunnar Walsh all have averages around the .300 mark, giving the Vikings a lineup full of balance – something they’ll be relying on Friday against Nitro.
The Vikings beat Nitro 12-2 on April 15, but didn’t face either of the Wildcats’ top two pitchers.
“Nitro is a great team,” Casto said. “They have a great group of seniors who have been to the state tournament numerous times. They have an excellent pitching staff to go along with strong hitters. We don’t think it will be a 12-2 game again – it should be a good one with two good teams going at it and two good pitchers on the mound.”
Nitro will counter on the mound with either Jacob Bradley (9-1, 1.07 ERA) or Andrew Stone (7-1, 0.94 ERA). The Wildcats’ also have a solid third option in Jared Hill (4-2, 1.74 ERA).
Much like Ripley, Nitro hovered around .500 through the early part of the season, but surged in late April/May. The Wildcats entered this week having won 12 of their last 13 games as the bats started to heat up at the right time.
“In our first 11 games, we were averaging 4.5 runs per game,” said first-year Nitro coach Joe Gayda. “Over our last 20 games or so, we’re scoring 7.5 to 8 runs per game. It’s just knowing what makes you go and being able to repeat it.”
Nitro, which is into the state tournament for the eighth time in the last 10 seasons, will be looking for its first championship since 2010. The Wildcats have added recent runner-up finishes in 2012 and 2015.
Matt Harrison leads Nitro at the plate with a .388 average, 24 RBIs and 29 runs scored, while Stone has a .379 average with 21 RBIs and 44 runs scored. Matt Jewel leads the team in RBIs (40), to go along with 13 runs scored and a .337 average. Jason Douglas, Bradley, Jake Williams, Hill and Eddie Flores all have averages over .300 as well for the Wildcats.
“Ripley whipped us pretty good in the middle of the season,” Gayda said. “Shane Casto does an awesome job with them. Some games you don’t perform and that’s what happened with us—and Ripley had a great game that day. If we do what we’re supposed to and control what we can control, we think we can beat anyone in the state. That’s the confidence that you have to have.”
VIDEO: All baseball state tournament games will be streamed live at the MetroNews Channel of WVMetroNews.com or catch radio broadcasts on stations across West Virginia.