CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Hedgesville Eagles were so anxious for their first state title they celebrated twice, though the first one didn’t count.
Sure-handed center fielder Troy Markley dropped the would-be final out, unbeknownst to his teammates who were bolting out of the Hedgesville dugout. Several reached the mound and tackled pitcher Derrick Snider, who also thought the game was over.
Two batters later it was over, for real this time, as Snider sealed the complete-game 4-2 victory by coaxing a groundout after Cabell Midland put the tying runners aboard.
The pseudo ending at Appalachian Power Park seemed appropriate for Hedgesville (29-7), which had never played in a championship game, and hadn’t appeared in the state tournament since 1974.
“Hats off to Hedgesville, because they’re a darn good ball team. They have a lot of leaders on that team. It’s their time to shine.” — Cabell Midland standout Seth Kinker
But the premature jubilation created concern for Snider, the junior left-hander who had to re-collect his hat — and his wits — after being clobbered by over-excited teammates.
“That was one of the harder football hits I’ve seen in a while,” said Eagles coach Dirk Webb. “It was a good spear.”
Snider only saw Markley race under Taylor Kuhn’s sinking liner in left-center and, much like most of the crowd, didn’t realize the ball popped out.
“All I knew was everybody came running out, and then everybody started running back in,” Snider said. “So I was like, ‘What happened?’
“Then someone told me Troy dropped the ball. So I just got up and did my thing.”
But Midland (23-11) took advantage of the reprieve when Seth Kinker lined a followup single to left — his fourth hit of the game. That created a chance for cleanup hitter Jeffery Jobe, who had doubled home a run earlier. This time, Jobe rolled a grounder to second.
And in center field, Markley felt absolved of his first error this season, which occurred because he too was in a rush to celebrate.
“When I threw my hand up to celebrate, the ball hit me right in the palm and fell out,” he said.
Hedgesville managed only five hits for the second straight day, but the Eagles bunched three of those into a four-run fourth inning that erased a 2-0 deficit and proved the undoing of Midland starter Tyler Hayes.
Tyler Anders roped a game-tying two-run single before Cameron Jordan made it 3-2 with a groundout. When Adam Ruppenthal added a run-scoring single, Hayes was lifted.
“He was throwing the ball well, but then maybe the heat got to him — I don’t know” said Midland coach Troy Brumfield. “He started to get the ball up in the zone just a little bit and they made us pay for it.”
“They got the lead with those four runs and we couldn’t get it back.”
With a junior-laden lineup, and Kinker and Hayes returning on the mound, Midland figures to be among the favorites in 2014. But for Saturday, it was Hedgesville enjoying the spoils.
“Hats off to Hedgesville, because they’re a darn good ball team,” Kinker said. “They have a lot of leaders on that team. It’s their time to shine. and they beat us, for sure.”
“But we’ll get started tomorrow working toward next season. We’ll be back.”