CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Saint Albans and Hurricane have been the consensus top two teams in Class AAA throughout the season.
The top seed Red Dragons and No. 2 Redskins are both one win away from meeting in the state title game, but both have their work cut out to reach that point.
Saint Albans (32-4) faces No. 4 Wheeling Park (20-9) in the first AAA semifinal Saturday at 9 a.m. Hurricane (32-5) will take on No. 3 Hedgesville (24-8) in the second semifinal, which features two schools 310 miles from each other.
“The best teams are getting to Charleston and that’s the way it should be,” Saint Albans coach Rick Whitman said. “All four are quality teams and they’ve all earned the right to be here and compete. It should be a really good tournament in Triple-A.”
The Red Dragons, Redskins and Patriots were in last season’s state tournament, while the Eagles are making their first appearance since winning the AAA championship in 2013.
Saint Albans is hungry to play on Saturday after a tough 1-0 loss to Wheeling Park in a semifinal last year. The Red Dragons have lost just once this season to a AAA opponent — back on April 27 against Greenbrier East — and are seeking their second state championship in three seasons.
“We’re excited to be back and have an opportunity to compete for a state championship,” Whitman said. “Our guys are really excited about the chance to get to play them again and hopefully we get a different result.”
The Red Dragons have beaten Hurricane twice and are riding a seven-game win streak since the setback to the Spartans. Over those seven games, Saint Albans has outscored its opponents, 48-7.
“There are four teams and one is going to go 2-0. There’s no reason why it can’t be St. Albans,” Whitman said. “This group has experienced the elation of winning a state championship and the heartbreak of last year. We’ve had some really good practices the last two weeks and I think our guys are ready to compete.”
Wheeling Park, meanwhile, knocked off Morgantown in a wild regional series that saw the Patriots win two games by one run sandwiched between a 14-0 loss.
Park rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the seventh inning of Game 3 to eliminate the Mohigans after losing both regular season matchups.
The Patriots have not faced any of the AAA semifinalists this season, though Morgantown entered the postseason with a 28-5 record.
Defending state champion Hurricane is unbeaten in postseason play and has allowed six runs in five playoff games.
The Redskins had their way in the regional series and outscored Parkersburg South, 15-1, in a two-game sweep.
Hurricane has held opponents to one run or fewer in 13 games this season.
“This has been a really good group to coach and they’re a tight-knit group,” Sutphin said.
Half of Hedgesville’s eight losses have come against out-of-state opponents, and the Eagles bring an eight-game win streak to Charleston.
In addition to defeating Spring Mills, Martinsburg and Musselman in sectional play, Hedgesville went on to sweep Jefferson in the regional series, while holding the Cougars to one run in both games.
“That’s a tough region to come out of and whoever comes out of it is always a good ball club,” Sutphin said.
The Eagles possess reigning state player of the year Chase DeLauter, but Sutphin says he’s far from Hedgesville’s only high-level player.
“He’s a really good player, but they have a lot of good players,” Sutphin said. “We know the competition will be strong and we’re looking forward to competing.”
Class AAA State Tournament Schedule
No. 1 Saint Albans (32-4) vs. No. 4 Wheeling Park (20-9) – Saturday, 9 a.m.
No. 2 Hurricane (32-5) vs. No. 3 Hedgesville (24-8) – 50 minutes after
Championship – Sunday, 1 p.m.