NEW MARTINSVILLE, W.Va. — A chance to play in the state baseball tournament is on the line Wednesday night when two old rivals meet in the Class A Region I finals.
The St. Marys Blue Devils are looking to advance to the state baseball tournament for the first time since 1990 as they take on familiar foe Magnolia.
Much has changed in this rivalry over the decades; most notable has been the reclassification of both schools over the last ten years with both schools dropping to Class A. However a constant for both teams has been the two men in the dugout for each side.
Veteran coaches Ed Wilson of St. Marys and Dave Cisar of Magnolia have seen just about everything through their careers and Wilson believes his team has a shot at the Blue Eagles.
“We’ll probably be the underdogs,” predicted Wilson. “I know we’ll put some runs on the board but we can’t play catch up ball most of the time you end up on the losing side.“
St. Marys advanced to the regional finals with a convincing 12-2 win over Clay-Battelle on Tuesday. Blue Devils batters hit just about everything Cee-Bees starter Josh Lemely could throw at them. St. Marys tallied 12 hits including a three-run homer by junior Jarrod Lough that blew the game open. Lough also picked up on the win on the mound going six innings in a complete-game effort.
“This season I haven’t had a great year pitching but someone told what I was doing wrong and I fixed it tonight,” said Lough.
“We’ve got some kids that can swing the bat but occasionally we end up booting the ball around and letting the other team have a big inning and we have to play catch up,” Wilson said.
That’s exactly what happened to St. Marys the first time it played Magnolia this season. In a game that would have made Tom Emanski cringe, St. Marys surrendered 19 runs and came up on the short end 19-14.
“If we can play defense I think we’ve got a shot against Magnolia,” said Wilson. “I’ve got my No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers with seven innings and Jarrod’s got seven if we need it. We’re not going to be hurting for pitchers.”
Wilson is confident offense won’t be an issue for his ballclub, because runs have come in bunches for St. Marys this season. Now, if St. Marys wants to knock off their rivals and make a trip to Charleston, it will have to depend on pitching and defense.
Said Lough: “We’re just going to have to field the ball cleanly and hit the ball like we can.”