Wheeling Park to baseball state tournament for 4th time in 5 years

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Wheeling Park swept its best-of-three regional series over Morgantown, beating the Mohigans 4-2 Wednesday night for a spot in next week’s baseball state tournament in Charleston.

It’s the Patriots’ fourth trip to the state tournament in the last five seasons.

“Before I got here, since 1976, we had only been to the state tournament one time,” said Wheeling Park coach Mike McLeod. “Now it’s four out of the last five years and that’s a compliment to the type of kids that we get in the city. We’re not as big as some counties, but the kids work hard.

“Sadly, it’s my last year. We adopted two little boys, which will eat up some of my time,” he continued. “It’s going to be fun. I really wanted this. You just keep trekking and we’ll see what happens when we get there.”

Wheeling Park on Wednesday erased an early 1-0 deficit by scoring two runs in the third and two more in the fourth.

Jarrod Jones went 2 for 4 with two RBIs at the plate in the win for the Patriots, while Jacob Shia added a 3 for 3 effort with an RBI and two runs scored as well.

Freshman Dylan Gongola got the start on the mound, going three innings and giving up one run on five hits. Senior Zach Hickman finished the final four innings, giving up one run on two hits and striking out three.

“He pitched in this same game last year and didn’t have much success,” McLeod said of Hickman. “He’s been here since he’s been a freshman and I hate to see him go. We knew if it was a one or two-run game, he was going to come in for us.”

Caleb Taylor led Morgantown with a 2 for 4 effort from the plate in the loss. The Mohigans end the year with a 20-11 record and will return the bulk of their team for next season.

“Compared to having one starter back this year, we’ll have eight back next year,” said Morgantown coach Mark McCarty. “But that’s kind of on what next year’s seniors want to take on their shoulders. I think they’ll play hard because they’re baseball guys. I have to say that they had a really good year.”

Wheeling Park (20-6) moves on to the state tournament looking to take a next step after coming up short in the semifinals in its most recent trips.

“It’s tough,” McLeod said. “It’s nice to be back again this year. But we have to get there and make some noise. We don’t want to be one-and-out the way that we have been. But when you get there, you get the best of the best.”