CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Class A state championship game was just six outs from the finish line and Charleston Catholic led by seven runs.
Time for the Irish to enjoy a smooth ride to their first title?
“Absolutely not,” said Catholic’s Conner Golden, who sensed Magnolia would make a run. “They wanted this as bad as we did.”
And Magnolia proved it, turning a blowout into a 9-8 white-knuckle final by scoring three runs in the sixth inning and three more in the seventh. Even the last out of Golden’s save was difficult: Magnolia’s Chandler Sapp lining to shortstop with the tying run at second base.
Only then could Catholic (30-9) finally celebrate the school’s first baseball crown, a euphoric moment after the Irish came up empty on eighth tournament trips in the past 12 seasons.
“This is for all the players who came before us,” said first baseman Nelson McKown, who had three hits and three RBIs Saturday. He also had older bother Bo in the stands, a member of the 2011 team that finished as state runner-up.
“Guys like Bo and so many others, they set the scale of winning for us. We just finished the job.”
And the job wasn’t finished until Magnolia (31-5), once stuck in a 9-2 hole, made the Irish sweat in the seventh. Catholic’s Rocco Wilcox was brought in from center field to pitch, promptly walked two batters and moved back to center. Next on the mound was shortstop Golden, who walked the first batter he faced to fill the bases.
Golden temporarily restored order by fanning Grant Cain for the first out and coaxing an RBI groundout from Yale Wetzel that made it 9-6.
Next came Drew Keller’s routine fly ball — routine except for the glaring sun that played havoc with Irish left fielder Andy Hoyer. Instead of a game-ending catch, the ball dropped mere feet away from the flummoxed outfielder, a gift double that closed the gap to 9-8.
“I saw the ball about halfway and then I couldn’t see it at all,” Hoyer said. “If we would have lost, I would’ve felt so bad — you don’t even know.”
In the Magnolia dugout, legendary coach Dave Cisar thought divine intervention might be fueling the Eagles’ comeback.
“That fly ball gets lost in the sun and I’m thinking, ‘Holy cow, something special’s going to happen here,'” he said.
After an intentional walk to Magnolia leadoff hitter Ryan Walton — who was 3-for-4 — Golden faced Sapp, who had gone 0-for-4. Sapp put a good swing on a two-strike pitch, but shortstop Kiefer Hovorka caught the shin-high liner and Catholic had its championship.
“This was the most complete baseball team we ever brought to the tournament,” said Irish coach Bill Mehle. “We had confidence in the fact that everybody could get on base and everybody could field their position.”
That was apparent in the fourth when Wilcox had seen Hoyer struggling with another long fly ball, so he raced over from center to make a diving catch behind Hoyer on the left-field warning track.
“He probably saved an inside-the-park home run on that great sliding catch,” said Cisar.
Catholic’s starting pitcher Hovorka certainly appreciated the effort, considering he surrendered 11 hits and five runs before departing after six innings.
Magnolia used Sapp (two runs in 2 2/3 innings) and Tanner Hanna (five runs, two earned, in 1 2/3 innings) before turning to ace Kyle Elliott, who had thrown four innings in Friday’s semifinal. Elliott got two outs before Cisar went back to Zach Willhoite (two runs in two innings), who was Friday’ starter.