CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Already in what’s been a challenging week for Cabell Midland’s baseball team, the Knights have rallied for a victory over Spring Valley and had their way in a win over St. Albans.
Seeking to continue their winning ways Friday night in the McDonald’s Classic against Class AAA No. 2 Morgantown, the No. 8 Knights did just that thanks in large part to a standout effort from shortstop Kenyon Collins.
With the Mohigans and Knights tied at 12 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Collins went deep to left field off Morgantown’s Ryan Fluharty, connecting for a walk-off home run to send Cabell Midland to a thrilling 13-12 victory in the McDonald’s Classic at Frank Loria Memorial Field.
“Kenyon came up with one out and I’m over there at third base thinking I’d like to see him get one out of here, and he did,” Knights’ head coach Tracy Brumfield said. “He had a heck of a game. Our kids really gutted this one out.”
At least four runs were scored between the two teams in each of the first five innings, and the sixth was the lone frame in the game without a run.
Cabell Midland (13-3) eventually led 12-11 and the Knights’ Bryce Alfrey pitched a scoreless sixth, before coming back out for the seventh looking to seal the outcome.
However, the Mohigans (14-2) had other ideas.
Fluharty reached after being hit by a pitch, one of six occasions in which that happened to the Mohigans in the matchup. He eventually got to third with one out and scored the tying run on a single to center by Aaron Jamison, who had reentered after exiting in the top of the third with an apparent injury following his stolen base.
“We’re going to reevaluate it. I think he’s fine, but he just tweaked a little bit there,” MHS coach Pat Sherald said.
The Knights had the winning run at third base in the home half of the seventh, but Fluharty struck out CMHS leadoff hitter Hunter McSweeney to send the game to the eighth.
McSweeney tossed a scoreless eighth after relieving Alfrey. Ray Ray Williams began the bottom of the eighth by hitting a fly ball to right field for the first out, before Collins belted a long ball to win it for the Knights.
“They outhit us today, but we had a lot of quality at bats. They just had one more quality at bat than we did at the end of the game,” Sherald said. “That kid is a heck of a player. I don’t like losing to him, but I enjoyed watching him play for sure.”
Caleb Nutter’s first-inning RBI single gave MHS the early lead, before the Knights countered with three runs in their first trip to the plate as their first three batters reached and the Mohigans committed a costly error in the frame.
Tommy Montague scored on a wild pitch to cut Morgantown’s deficit in half in the second, but Midland again answered with a three spot, getting a two-run double from Isaac Pettit and a run-scoring single off the bat of Luke Samuel to lead, 6-2.
“We hit the ball well tonight and we’ve been hitting the ball,” Brumfield said. “Hopefully we just keep on going better and better.”
MHS battled back with a four-run third highlighted by Riley Anderson’s ground rule double that drove in a run and Montague’s RBI single, while the other two runs scored on wild pitches.
“I’m extremely proud of the way we competed. We had some things that didn’t go our way, but they never panicked and we stayed in the ballgame,” Sherald said. “We pretty much dumped our whole bench and everybody was ready to go and into the game. It was a game that we’ll be able to learn from. This is an opportunity for our guys to grow and take steps forward and not backward after a game like that.”
Pettit worked a bases loaded walk during the Knights’ third inning as part of their two runs in the frame for an 8-6 lead, though MHS got four back in the fourth despite managing only one hit — Fluharty’s leadoff ground rule double. MHS worked a pair of walks and was hit by a pitch twice in the inning that allowed the Mohigans to go in front, 10-8.
Ethan Dorkins scored on a throwing error in the fifth to give the Mohigans a brief three-run lead, but the Knights produced their highest-scoring inning in the bottom of that frame to regain the lead. Midland’s four-run fifth featured Collins’ run-scoring single, Pettit’s RBI triple, Samuel’s RBI single and a go-ahead sacrifice fly from Ben Fulks.
Collins finished 5-for-6 with a pair of RBI and three runs.
“He came on toward the end of the year last year, but he’s been in the weight room,” Brumfield said. “He’s a hard-working kid and a strong kid.”
Pettit drove in five runs and scored three times. Williams added three hits and scored three times in the victory.
McSweeney, the last of four pitchers utilized by the Knights, recorded the win.
Fluharty, Jamison and Montague had two hits apiece for MHS.
“They hit the ball hard. That’s the best hitting team we’ve faced this year,” Brumfield said.
Fluharty logged 3 1/3 innings and allowed two runs while suffering the loss. He was the last of Morgantown’s three pitchers.