Upon wrapping up the Class A Region II championship Wednesday with a resounding 17-1 victory at South Harrison, Moorefield took time to soak in the moment as it moved to within two victories of being labeled three-time defending state champion.
Several seniors on this year’s team were instrumental in helping the Yellow Jackets win Class A titles as freshman in 2018 and again in 2019. After missing out on last season due to the pandemic, Moorefield will return to Charleston next week as the top seed and face No. 4 Williamstown in a 5 p.m. semifinal June 25.
“We were obviously disappointed last year and I’m sure other teams were as well,” MHS coach Wade Armentrout said. “But it’s great to be able to get these guys back and kind of cap off their season as seniors. We also have a really good group of young kids that are watching this and they see what it’s about.”
Moorefield, winners of 13 straight and 20-5 overall, has yet to lose to a Class A opponent this season. While suffering five setbacks among their first 12 games, the Yellow Jackets lost twice to Class AAA state tournament qualifier Jefferson, along with defeats to Musselman, Hedgesville and Keyser.
MHS has allowed 24 total runs over the 13 consecutive victories, including a mere 12 in its last 10 contests.
In a 3-1 regional opener victory over South Harrison that took two days to complete due to weather, Hayden Baldwin and Isaac VanMeter — seniors and featured players on both title-winning teams — combined to hold the Hawks’ bats in check.
The Yellow Jackets then got six strong innings from junior Karson Reed in Wednesday’s road win, one in which Moorefield scored five runs in the fifth inning and seven in the sixth to turn a four-run game into a runaway victory.
“He throws well and has really good stuff,” Armentrout said of Reed. “We’re going to need him down the road for sure.”
Should Moorefield win next Friday, it would allow the Yellow Jackets to meet the winner of the other Class A semifinal between No. 2 Charleston Catholic and No. 3 Man in Saturday’s final.
It could also allow for a rematch of the 2019 title game when Moorefield defeated the Irish 4-2.
“These guys have really good composure,” Armentrout said. “They showed that the previous two times we were down there. I don’t think they’ll be awestruck by anything. All four teams there are really good so we’re going to face good competition, but we’re pleased just to have the opportunity to be down there again.”