WILLIAMSTOWN, W.Va. — Wheeling Central looked primed to leave Williamstown with a double-digit victory within five innings that would have given the Maroon Knights early control of the Class A Region I series.
Instead, the Yellowjackets overcame a 14-3 fourth-inning deficit and nine-run sixth-inning deficit, scoring six times with two outs in the home half of the seventh inning to complete an improbable rally in a 17-16 victory that leaves Williamstown in the driver’s seat.
“I’ve been around a lot of baseball,” Williamstown head coach Levi Maxwell said, “and I’ve never seen anything like that.”
The Yellowjackets (28-4) will attempt to complete a two-game sweep Tuesday in Wheeling, while the Maroon Knights (23-4) hope to overcome the disappointing series-opening setback and force a decisive third game.
“Whether they beat us 11-1 or 17-16 doesn’t matter. We have to come back and win tomorrow,” Central head coach Todd Cover said.
After WHS pulled to within five with a four-run sixth highlighted by Wyatt Powell’s two-run double, Yellowjackets relief pitcher Tyler Coleman continued his strong outing by retiring Central in order in the seventh.
Still, with a five-run advantage and needing only three outs to secure the win, the visitors appeared in control.
But when Ty Ott led off with a single, the Maroon Knights elected to utilize a fourth pitcher in left-hander Zayne Rosnick, who replaced fellow southpaw Kade Koroneos.
Rosnick responded by striking out Parker Schramm, and after issuing a walk to Luke Ankrom, he induced a fly ball to center off the bat of Carson Hill for the second out.
Down to its last out, Williamstown never gave in. Instead, Wyatt Siley worked a walk to load the bases and Jenner Burge followed with a two-run single to center. When No. 9 hitter Cooper Martin followed with a single to shortstop that brought in the Yellowjackets’ 14th run, it sent the winning run to the plate in the form of leadoff hitter Wyatt Powell, who worked his team’s ninth base-on-balls to create bases loaded situation for Maxwell Molessa, a West Virginia University signee.
Molessa fell behind 0-2 in the count but came through with a sharp single to right, allowing Burge to easily score from third, before Martin slid into the plate just ahead of the tag for the tying run.
“Simplify everything and don’t try to do to too much,” Molessa said of his approach. “Get a base hit and move some guys over.”
Williamstown’s Maxwell Molessa with a two-run single on an 0-2 pitch that tied game at 16 with two outs in bottom of 7th.#wvprepbase pic.twitter.com/sSGQIS9m8V
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) May 20, 2024
Ott came back up with an opportunity to end the game, and he did just that by sending a ground ball to second base that was misplayed, allowing Powell to score the winning run.
It set off a frenzied celebration in a game that was full of emotion and featured a brief meeting between the umpires and head coaches from both teams at the conclusion of the fifth inning, which had ended with Central reliever Landon Prager striking out Molessa.
“It’s a really emotional game between Nos. 1 and 2 in the state, and both teams and coaches are super competitive,” Maxwell said. “You get us one field and we’re playing for something that matters, there’s a lot of emotion there and our guys did a good job with that.”
Williamstown’s Ty Ott reaches on error that allows winning run to score for Yellowjackets in come-from-behind 17-16 victory against Wheeling Central.#wvprepbase pic.twitter.com/cHfLUbu6ox
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) May 20, 2024
At the time of the conference, Central led 14-7, and the Maroon Knights added to their lead courtesy of Koroneos’ two-run single in the sixth.
From that point forward, the Yellowjackets scored 10 unanswered runs to complete their rally.
“It wasn’t our type of game. We’re usually pitching and defense,” Cover said. “It definitely wasn’t us.”
Central got off to the start it desired, scoring three runs in the first on a Gary Hatfield sacrifice fly and run-scoring singles from Rosnick and Koy Lipinski.
Williamstown drew even in the second as Ott was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Schramm, the starting pitcher, followed with a two-run single.
But the Maroon Knights regained the momentum and then some by scoring six in the third, which chased Schramm from the mound. That inning featured Rosnick’s run-scoring double to right-center, run-scoring singles from Braxton Billick and Eli Tucker in consecutive at bats, the latter of which a second run scored on as the result of an error, and Hatfield’s two-run double that left the visitors with a 9-3 lead.
The Yellowjackets hurt their cause in the top of the fourth by committing three errors that aided the Maroon Knights’ five-run frame, which was highlighted by Hatfield and Rosnick’s run-scoring singles.
Coleman came on with two outs and the bases loaded in that inning and struck out Brayden Cover for what at the time looked like nothing more than a result that could help to prolong the game.
But Williamstown began to charge back and scored twice in the fourth, including once on a Schramm double, and twice more in the fifth on Powell’s two-run single to close its deficit to 14-7.
An hour later, the comeback had been completed in full.
“We could’ve ended the game early, but you let a good team hang around and this is likely to happen,” Cover said. “There’s nothing we can do now but come out tomorrow and fight.”
Central starting pitcher Steven Brodegard went 4 2/3 innings and allowed seven runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and four walks.
Schramm allowed seven runs in 2 2/3 innings. Coleman limited the Maroon Knights to two runs on five hits over 3 1/3 innings.
“We had a lot of walks today, which is uncharacteristic for our guys, but we hung in there and kept battling,” Maxwell said. “I can’t say enough about Coleman. That’s the best team we’ve played all year. Hats off to them. They swung the bats extremely well today.”
Powell and Martin had three hits apiece, while Molessa, Ott and Schramm had two each in the victory.
Rosnick had a game-high four hits and drove in three runs, while Billick, Tucker and Hatfield registered three hits apiece.
Powell and Sheffield drove in four runs each for their respective teams.
“We have to throw strikes and our defense has to play well,” Molessa said. “We were out of it there for a bit, but the underclassmen stuck with it and produced in big moments, so mentally, all of us are going to be in a good spot. It’s just carrying today into tomorrow and getting a good push off of it.”