NUTTER FORT, W.Va. — Hampshire and Robert C. Byrd had split four matchups between the regular season and postseason ahead of a decisive Class AAA Region II matchup that would allow the winner to qualify for the state tournament.
So it was no surprise that the outcome in the fifth, final and most important matchup of the season between the two teams hung in the balance until the final pitch.
Ultimately, Eagles’ left-hander Xavier Carvelli rose to the occasion and caught Branson Kline looking for his ninth strikeout, allowing RCB to hang on for a 5-4 victory on Tuesday afternoon at Frank Loria Memorial Field.
The last of nine strikeouts from Xavier Carvelli to finish off Robert C. Byrd’s 5-4 win over Hampshire for a spot in Class AAA state tournament.
Carvelli pitched the final 5 innings. #wvprepbase pic.twitter.com/BXWuWa6TkE
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) May 26, 2026
The result allows the Eagles (22-10) to qualify for the state tournament for the second time in program history, both of which have come in the last five seasons.
“It means the world,” said Derek Bowen, RCB’s second-year head coach. “For these 10 seniors to go out like this, they’ve been through a lot with consolidation, coaching changes, me coming in before their junior year and they’ve been up to the challenge. It doesn’t get tougher than this senior class here. They’re a great group of kids and they were up to the challenge.”
Hampshire, which trailed 4-1 in the top of the third when the contest restarted after being suspended Friday night, finishes 17-12.
“These guys took us on a rollercoaster ride this year and I’d pay twice as much money to get back on the ride,” Trojans’ coach Ken Maiers said. “This is the best group of guys I’ve ever been around.”
The Trojans had momentum upon the restart as they’d pushed across their first run just before Friday’s stoppage and had two on with no outs.
Carvelli entered for starting pitcher Anderson Levake to begin Tuesday’s action, and the Fairmont State-bound southpaw struck out three straight batters to prevent HHS from drawing closer.
“My adrenaline was pumping and I felt incredible,” Carvelli said.
The Eagles then added to their lead in the home half of that inning when Owen O’Mara doubled to left to score Levake, who had prolonged the inning by drawing a two-out walk.
Trailing by four to start the fourth inning, Hampshire connected for four straight singles, the first of which Mason Slade provided. Slade’s knock was followed by another from teammate Carter Smith, before leadoff hitter Channing Wilt found a hole through the right side of the infield and brought home Slade to bring his team to within three.
Brayden Holt then singled just inside the third base bag to score Smith, while Wilt collided with O’Mara while rounding third and was awarded home on an interference call that also sent Holt to second.
At that point, Bowen came out to the mound for a conference with Carvelli and the Eagles’ infielders.
“That wasn’t so much for X, but it was to kind of settle us down and realize we still had the lead and needed to get on to the next play,” Bowen said. “It was just settling infielders down and saying this is still reachable and we can get everybody back on the same page.”
The move paid off when Carvelli struck out No. 3 hitter Chris Wood for the first out. Mason Wolford followed with a well-struck ball to shortstop that Ashton Shaffer dove to stop, preventing it from getting to the outfield. Shaffer alertly threw to third to get the lead runner in Holt for the second out, and Carvelli kept his team’s one-run lead intact by retiring Landon Whitacre on a chopper to the mound.
“Ashton made a huge play. It was an incredible play and saved the game,” Carvelli said. “It completely settled me down and boosted my confidence back up and made me feel a lot better.”
Slade’s sliding catch in center took a hit away from Carvelli and likely saved a run to end the home half of the fourth, though the southpaw struck out the side in the top of the fifth.
RCB then had a prime opportunity to add to its lead when Saverio Destito and Jaxson Maglowski accounted for back-to-back singles to start the home half of the fifth, the latter of which was on a bunt up the first base line and marked the end of Wilt’s outing on the mound.
On came Slade to pitch, and when faced with a bases loaded situation with two outs, he struck out Landon Frazier to end the fifth and keep his team’s deficit at one run.
Yet that was no issue for Carvelli, who retired Hampshire in order in the sixth to make it nine straight since allowing the three runs in the fourth.
Hampshire came to bat in the seventh trailing by one, and after Carvelli retired the first two that inning to make it 11 in a row altogether, Whitacre hit a sharp single to left to put the tying run on.
Kline was then given a pinch-hit opportunity, and after falling behind 1-2, he took consecutive pitches to work a full count, before being caught looking.
“That’s a great Hampshire team. They’re as scrappy as they come and put a lot of pressure on you on the base paths,” Bowen said. “The kids were ready to play after a long layoff. We were trying to keep the kids focused on the goal and task at hand and they were up to the challenge and able to get the job done.”
In a game with the finest of margins, Hampshire’s inability to score in the first inning Friday after loading the bases with no outs proved pivotal.
Both teams had eight hits.
Carvelli allowed three runs on five hits and did not issue a walk.
Wild was charged with one run on four hits over three innings, while Slade worked two scoreless frames without scattering a hit.
“We’re down 4-1 at the restart against a college-level pitcher and we just battled and battled,” Maiers said. “That says a lot about this group.”