HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A sky-high, infield pop up that found the turf with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the seventh allowed No. 1 Wheeling Central Catholic to advance past No. 8 James Monroe, 2-1 in the Class AA quarterfinal round Monday morning at Marshall University’s Jack Cook Field.
With the game tied at 1, Central’s Brady Ernest hit a pop up on a full count pitch that could not be fielded by the Mavericks, allowing Matt Criniti to score the game’s winning run.
“I think they are motivated now,” said Wheeling Central Catholic head coach Todd Cover. “Getting this one out of the way, hopefully we can come back Thursday and play a little bit better.”
James Monroe (20-17) broke a scoreless stalemate in the fifth inning when Brody Barreras delivered an RBI single to score Holden Crislip. Central answered in the sixth and a triple from Kade Koroenos delivered Central’s first hit. His run-scoring triple sent Zayne Rosnick to the plate and tied the game at 1.
A trio of Division I players combined on an impressive pitching duel throughout the contest. WVU commit Kadyn Hines went the distance on the hill for James Monroe. He pitched 6.2 innings, allowing two hits and he struck out eight batters. Both runs he allowed were unearned.
“We knew it was going to be a challenge. Their kid [Hines] is really good,” Cover said. “He is committed to a Power 4. We knew runs were going to be at a premium. Luckily, we were able to keep them to one and then we were able to scratch one across there in the seventh. It is a good win.”
Akron signee Brayden Cover struck out a dozen batters in five innings for the Maroon Knights. He was relieved by Steven Brodegard in the sixth, and he retired all three batters he faced.
“I thought Brayden threw really well for us. I think he kind of ran out of gas a bit in the sixth. We were able to bring in Steven for the last two. Pitching and defense have been our M.O. the whole year. We’ll continue to try to ride that.”
The defending state champion Maroon Knights (28-5) await the winner of the Logan-Doddridge County matchup in the semifinal round Thursday at 5 p.m.