(Photo gallery by Teran Malone)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. —Inside the confines of a supercharged GoMart Ballpark on Friday night, Morgantown used an explosive second inning and a shutdown performance from relief ace Judd Messerly to seize a spot in the Class AAAA state baseball championship game with a 7-5 win over George Washington.
“We were the visiting team if you saw the fans they brought today and their fans did a great job of bringing a ton of energy and I’m just really proud of my guys in how they stayed focused and stayed in the ballgame. I just can’t compliment them enough,” head coach Pat Sherald said.
The careful eye of the Mohigan lineup against George Washington starter Slade Barton proved wise in the early innings with Morgantown hitters drawing a trio of walks in the top of the first to load the bases. Pitcher Vincent Aloi was the beneficiary of that opportunity, sending a two-strike pitch into the air with enough depth to score Mason Bowers on a sacrifice fly.
While Barton recorded the third out against the next hitter, the second inning proved to be more of the same formula taken to a bigger scale for Morgantown.
Daniel Woods’ MetroNews broadcast interview with Morgantown head coach Pat Sherald after the Mohigans’ 7-5 win over GW in the Class AAAA semifinals: #wvprepbase @MetroNewsSports pic.twitter.com/BqLispK3TE
— Joe Brocato (@joebrowvm) June 7, 2025
Sammy Watson’s infield single and a Kai Henkins walk preceded a pair of Barton strikeouts but Bowers was hit by a pitch to load the bases and a free pass issued to Koa Silvers forced in a run to double the lead. Three tosses of the ball later and Jackson Bredeson was struck by a pitch to push another runner home.
That once again left the bases full for Aloi who brought an even bigger swing this time, clubbing a double to the left field wall that emptied the basepaths and brought all three baserunners across the plate to make it a 6-0 ballgame.
Ty Nettles came on to pitch in relief for the Patriots, recording the final out in the second and settling in to post his team’s first scoreless frames in the third and fourth.
His teammates rewarded that effort with offense in their half of that fourth inning, first plating a run on an infield single by Cole Ellis with a little help from the Morgantown defense as Weston Mazey’s throw sailed into the first base dugout and Barton came in to score from second.
After Aloi issued a two-out walk to load the bases, another ball hit to shortstop proved dangerous as a diving stop by Mazey kept Jon Fala’s grounder on the infield but the Patriot leadoff hitter beat the throw to keep the inning alive as Joel Nelson crossed the plate.
With the bases still full, Corbin Dixon matched the swing that Aloi put on the ball in the second and delivered a blast to the left field fence that came just feet away from tying the game with a grand slam. Still, the double was enough to clear the bases for George Washington and cut the Mohigan lead down to one.
While Dixon successfully mirrored what Aloi had done for Morgantown, Judd Messerly came on in that inning to replicate what Nettles brought for the Patriots. The lefty reliever entered following an Aloi base on balls and recorded the final out of the fourth before returning to the bump and firing a scoreless fifth.
With Messerly settling the waves, the Mohigan offense delivered an insurance run in the sixth after Mazey walked, took second on a passed ball and came home on a triple from Mason Bowers. .
While the end of the Morgantown half of the sixth ended with a controversial call as Bowers attempted to steal home, Messerly made sure the Patriots could not capitalize on the momentum. A strikeout and a double play ball after a walk left George Washington with just three outs left to work with in the final inning.
Just as he had throughout the night, Messerly worked with a sense of ease through the final three outs with three fly balls doing the job and sending Morgantown into the championship game.
“We call him “The Fireman,” Sherald said, “When everything’s burning down around, we call on him to come in and get a stop for us and that’s exactly what he did. He competed for us. We’ve put him in every high-leverage situation that we’ve had this season and he’s gone out and just competed for us.”
Messerly earned the win with his dazzling relief performance, spinning 3.1 innings of scoreless ball with just one hit allowed and five strikeouts. Barton was charged with the loss for George Washington which saw its season end with a record of 27-10.
Top seed Hurricane stands in the way of Morgantown claiming a state championship on Saturday and Sherald is ready to meet the Redskins.
“Our game plan is we just scratch and claw and try to find a way to win ballgames and I like our team’s focus right now. I liked their effort and I really like their toughness right now,” he said.