10:06am: Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval

Moore delivers in clutch, lifts Moorefield to 8-7 walk-off win over Williamstown

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Williamstown coach Levi Maxwell took his chances.

Moorefield senior Jayden Moore made him pay.

With Williamstown leading Moorefield 7-6 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Maxwell elected to intentionally walk Isaac VanMeter to load the bases.

Moore followed with a memorable at bat that culminated with a two-run double to left field, allowing Gavin Wolfe and Coleman Mongold to score and lifting top seed Moorefield to an 8-7 victory over No. 4 Williamstown in a Class A semifinal at Power Park.

“I knew I had to come in clutch,” Moore said. “I was trying to take good swings, keep my eye on the ball and hopefully get one in a gap somewhere.”

With the win, MHS (21-5) moved to within one way of being three-time defending Class A champion. The Yellow Jackets will take on the winner of No. 2 Charleston Catholic/No. 3 Man in the title game at approximately 5 p.m. Saturday.

“We actually practice situations like that, especially during the time that we’ve had off between our sectional and regional games and our state games,” Moorefield coach Wade Armentrout said. “We have to simulate as many of those situations as we can and that was one of them specifically. I talked to them right before we went out in the bottom of the seventh and told them everybody needs to hit and we need to hit around in the order so nobody is going to make the third out.”

Trailing 7-5 to start the bottom of the seventh, Moorefield loaded the bases with no outs on singles from Bryce Hines and Coleman Mongold, with an error in between that allowed Garrett Strickler to reach.

Postgame ‘Round of Sound’

Williamstown pitcher Leewood Molessa induced a pop out for the first out of the inning, before Hayden Baldwin lifted a sacrifice fly to left to make it 7-6.

With runners on first and second, VanMeter’s free pass put the winning run in scoring position, and Moore ensured it scored with his well-struck hit to left.

“(VanMeter) had hit a ball pretty well against us and (Moore) had popped out twice,” Maxwell said. “It’s a chance you have to take in those situations. Throughout the game, we didn’t execute when we were supposed to and didn’t do enough little things right to beat a team like that. To beat a team that’s back-to-back state champions, you have to execute every time you have an opportunity.”

Williamstown (17-11) got off to its desired start, pushing four runs across on four hits in the first inning. After a leadoff triple, Maxwell Molessa scored on a wild pitch, while Leewood Molessa added an RBI single and Ethan Holbert connected for a two-run single off Baldwin later in the frame.

The 4-0 lead was cut to one run in the home half of the second when Moorefield scored three times — first on Hines’ RBI double, before Jaydon See touched the plate off of a wild pitch and Mongold grounded out to short to bring home Hines.

Matthew Jenkins’ two-run single in the third gave Moorefield its first lead at 5-4, but marked the Yellow Jackets’ final offensive production until the seventh. Following Jenkins’ hit, Leewood Molessa retired 10 straight batters until the start of the seventh.

“Leewood did an unbelievable job today and gave us a great chance to win,” Maxwell said.

WHS went back ahead with a two-out rally in the fifth. Leewood Molessa and Trevor Powell drew consecutive two-out walks and Brandy Ankrom’s infield single enabled the Yellow Jackets to tie the game at 5. Andrew Florence then scored on a passed ball to put WHS back in front, 6-5.

Maxwell Molessa’s two-out double in the sixth brought Holbert home and put Moorefield in a two-run hole.

Only three of the eight runs Leewood Molessa allowed were earned. He struck out four and walked one, while allowing six hits over 6 2/3 innings.

“The pitcher is fantastic. We knew he was going to be good and throw a lot of strikes,” Armentrout said. “Our real goal was we wanted to get to their second or third pitcher, but we didn’t make him throw enough pitches. He was efficient, so we had to settle in and say, we’re going to have to beat this guy.”

Baldwin struck out nine in 4 2/3 innings, but allowed six runs on six hits and four walks. VanMeter picked up the win with four strikeouts and one run allowed on three hits in 2 1/3 innings.

Jenkins and Hines had two hits apiece for MHS, while both Molessas and Holbert had two hits apiece in defeat.

“It was looking a little gloomy at first,” Armentrout said, “but I’ll put my money on our guys.”





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