CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Down to their final out in the bottom of the seventh, St. Albans had their last four batters reach base to cap a three-run rally, sending the Red Dragons to the Mountain State Athletic Conference Championship game with a 7-6 win over Spring Valley in the second semifinal.
St. Albans (18-4) will face No. 4 seed Cabell Midland (14-9) in Saturday’s championship game. The Knights defeated top-seeded Hurricane, 8-2 in the opening semifinal.
Gavin Comer’s run-scoring single with the bases loaded allowed Gavin Grisby to score the winning run for St. Albans after they squandered a three-run lead in the sixth inning.
“I was proud of him coming through in that situation,” said St. Albans head coach Rick Whitman of Comer’s game-winning base hit.
With the game tied at one in the fifth inning, St. Albans scored three runs to take a 4-1 lead. However, Spring Valley batted around in the top of the sixth, scoring five runs to take a 6-4 lead. Brody Spencer’s two-run single in the sixth gave Spring Valley (14-7) their lone lead of the game.
“I thought they were tougher than us for six innings, almost six and two-thirds,” Whitman said. “They grinded it out. We made it difficult on ourselves. We got a three-run lead in the fifth and we walked too many guys. We made an uncharacteristic error. I thought we played tight tonight. I don’t know why. But I thought our guys were a little tight and a little nervous.”
In the bottom of the seventh, eight Red Dragons stepped up to the plate. Three Red Dragons reached on base hits and three more were issued free passes on hit batters or walks.
“We told them that you can’t do it with one swing of the bat. We’re down two runs and we’ve got to have some base runners. We had some good at bats.”
Comer earned the win in relief for St. Albans. He pitched 1.2 innings in relief of starter Brogan Samms.
Braxton Burke went 3-for-3 for St. Albans and he reached base in all five plate appearances. Comer, Samms and Kayden Riggan each had a pair of base hits for St. Albans.
Saturday’s championship is set for 7 p.m. at GoMart Ballpark. It is the fourth scheduled game of the day following a trio of placement games.
“We were dead in the water. We’re playing with house money. Let’s just come out here tomorrow. You get an opportunity to play for a conference championship. Besides winning a state championship, there’s not much else better than winning a conference championship. We’re going to come out loose and hopefully score one more run than the other team.”