CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Garrett Gress threw a one-hitter on Friday morning as No. 1 Hurricane rolled past No. 4 Mogantown 10-0 in the Class AAA baseball state tournament semifinals.
“It was awesome and a dream come true,” Gress said. “I’ve looked forward to being here and pitching here for the last four years of my life. I loved every second of it.”
Gress, who entered Friday with a 0.83 ERA, improved to 11-0 on the season with the win.
“Garrett is an animal,” said Hurricane coach Brian Sutphin. “He’s the kind of kid, that no matter what you’re playing, you want him on your team. He just finds a way to win and he’s tough minded.”
Hurricane broke open a scoreless game with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. After a one-out double from Austin Dearing, Braden Adkins followed with an RBI single. Logan McClure later added a two-RBI single, giving the Redskins a 3-0 lead.
“This is a special group of young men,” Sutphin said. “They’re resilient, they’re fun to be around, there’s not a lot of egos – that’s what makes it fun.”
A Noah Short two-RBI single in the fifth gave Hurricane a 5-0 advantage. RBI hits from McClure and Chandler Kelley later in the inning pushed the Redskins’ advantage out to 8-0.
After McClure scored on a throwing error, Kelley added the final run on a passed ball to end the game in five innings.
“We came out and exploded in the fourth and fifth innings,” Gress said. “I knew it was coming – we just had to get our bats going. My defense always has my back and made some spectacular plays out there today. Everything just fell into place for us.”
McClure led Hurricane at the plate, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs, while Short finished with two RBIs as well.
Morgantown’s Sam Britton went four and 1/3 innings, giving up five runs on seven its. Michael DeFelice finished with the one hit for the Mohigans (21-10).
Hurricane (30-7) moves on to face either No. 2 St. Albans or No. 3 Washington in the Class AAA title game on Saturday.
“They’re all capable. (We have) a deep lineup and there’s no selfishness about this group,” Sutphin said. “Their focus was there. It now gives us an opportunity to play again (Saturday) and that’s what it’s all about.”
A win Saturday would be Hurricane’s second championship in the last four seasons.