Charleston Catholic captures second Class A baseball title

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Charleston Catholic won its second baseball state championship on Saturday, beating Ravenswood 8-2 from Appalachian Power Park.

The Irish (28-8) won their first title back in 2013.

“We were the first freshman class after the state championship team,” said Charleston Catholic senior Luke McKown. “We were the only class to not make to the state tournament recently, so we took getting here pretty seriously and took that to heart.

“It’s pretty indescribable,” he added. “We’ve come pretty far this year. First game of sectionals, we only won by one run. But then we hit our groove. I said before the game (Saturday) that we were yet to play our best baseball in the postseason.”

But Catholic was on its best Saturday, following up Thursday’s shutout of Wheeling Central in the semifinals by holding a powerful Ravenswood lineup to just two runs.

More: Full MetroNews broadcast of the Class A baseball championship

“We do not have shutdown pitching, so we knew we had to play solid defense,” said Charleston Catholic coach Bill Mehle. “You saw an outstanding defensive game from a Class A team today. If you play defense like that, you can play with anybody on any level.”

John Hufford was effective on the mound as well, throwing strikes and allowing his defense do work behind him. Hufford surrendered two runs, scattering eight hits over seven innings.

“Our defense played well and Dom (Martin) did a great job behind the plate,” Hufford said. “Michael Martin made some great plays at shortstop. I don’t have overpowering stuff, but I have some off-speed, I keep the ball low and let the defense do the rest. It’s a surreal moment right now.”

The Irish snagged the momentum early and never trailed as McKown, Martin and Hufford all added first inning hits, driving in a pair of runs for the 2-0 lead.

Charleston Catholic defeated Ravenswood 8-2 for the Class A baseball title.

McKown finished 3-for-4 with four runs scored, Martin was 2-for-2 with an RBI and two runs scored, while Trae Swisher added a double and three RBIs as well for the Irish.

Chase Swain, Nathan Curtis and Andrew Anglin all finished with two hits apiece for Ravenswood (23-11), while Swain, Nic Taylor and Lakin Tucker split time on the mound.

“We have work to do,” said Ravenswood coach Wes Swain. “We have eight juniors coming back, so we have a good start for next year. We have a tough section and region to go through, but hopefully it works out that we can get back here.”

Charleston Catholic has now won two titles in its last two trips to the state tournament – the Irish previously had made seven trips without a title.

“The first one, you wonder if it’s ever going to happen,” Mehle said. “But I have gained more confidence in myself as a coach that we can put the whole thing together and win the big ones.”





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