(Story by Daniel Woods)
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Don’t call him the unlikely hero.
As his head coach put it, the fitting description for Martinsburg’s Christian Alter may be the “forgotten” hero as the right-hander lifted the team onto his shoulders and tossed a complete game while recording three hits at the plate in the Bulldogs’ 3-1 regional series win over Jefferson.
Martinsburg is headed to Charleston!
The Bulldogs outlast Jefferson by a 3-1 score and clinch the Class AAA Region II championship behind Christian Alter’s complete game.
Hear the highlights right here! #wvprepbase @MetroNewsPrep pic.twitter.com/regIYvH7DW
— Panhandle Sports Live! – Panhandle News Network (@EPSportsNetwork) May 23, 2024
Martinsburg coach Aaron Beiler was confident sending Alter to the mound in the decisive game for the Class AAA Region II crown despite the fact that no Bulldog other than Carson Boober and Lane DeLauter had started a game on the mound since April 29.
“I think everybody forgot about how good Christian Alter was because he hasn’t pitched in a while,” Beiler said, “Through the first 20 games of the season, I think he was a player of the year candidate, was 6-0 on the mound and hitting over .500 so I knew it was in him and had all the confidence in the world in Christian Alter to go out there and boy, did he perform in a big way.”
Alter held a Jefferson offense that exploded for the only multi-run inning of the series in its final trip to the plate during Tuesday’s second game to a single unearned run on five hits, utilizing a pitch to contact approach that took advantage of an Bulldog defense that ranks among the state’s best.
“I just felt like I was locating really well and that was the game plan coming into the game, just locating my pitches and executing and we would be fine,” Alter said.
As if his efforts on the mound were not enough, Alter also got the scoring started for Martinsburg. After Braeden Oviedo drew a two-out walk, Alter split the outfielders with a line shot to right-center that brought Oviedo across the plate and turned into an RBI triple for the pitcher.
From a confidence perspective, there may not have been a better shot in the arm possible.
“That was huge. That definitely made me feel more confident on the mound too, that we had a run. I was a little less stressed up there. That was huge for me. I just went in the box today and was confident in myself that I was going to be able to deliver if I needed to,” Alter said.
Jefferson starter Jett Gross settled in after that, delivering a 1-2-3 second inning while Alter set the Cougars down in order in both the second and third.
In the bottom of the third, Carson Boober managed to square up Gross for a line drive double down the left field line with one out. Oviedo followed with a bouncing ball toward Jefferson shortstop Nayan Dominguez whose throw to first went past Serf Guerra and allowed Boober to spring home and double the lead.
Alter got some help from his defense in the fourth with a relay from Logan Wilt in left field to Oviedo at third, connected by Boober, erased Guerra for the final out but Gross worked around Alter’s second hit to retire the side in the bottom half.
Jefferson managed to string together a pair of baserunners in the fifth with a Brady Roberts walk and a Ty Vickers single. Dominguez smashed a hard ground ball toward Boober at short who lost his footing before popping back to his feet and sending a rushed throw wide of the first base bag.
Roberts never stopped running from second, turning around third and sliding underneath Jamere Brown’s throw for the Cougars’ first run.
The Bulldogs answered in the bottom half though as Brown earned a leadoff walk and pinch runner Brayden Miller reached third when a Dominguez error opened the door for him to sprint home.
With a two-run lead, Alter permitted just two more base runners the rest of the way and worked around a two-out single in the seventh to close the door and send Martinsburg to the state tournament.
“We’re going to enjoy it for a day or two and then we’ll get ready to go. Once you get to Charleston, anything can happen. It’s win or go home. I really like our one, two and three with Christian so I think we’re in a good spot when it comes to single elimination baseball,” Beiler said.
Alter finished the outing allowing the lone unearned run on five hits and one walk with a trio of strikeouts while Gross permitted three runs with just one earned on five hits and two walks in the loss.
Martinsburg improves to 33-3 on the season ahead of the state tournament while Jefferson completes the 2024 campaign at 25-13.