HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Tyler Wilhite did his part to make sure that his two-run single in the second inning would be enough if needed for Shady Spring to advance in the Class AAA state tournament. Wilhite collected the final nine outs in relief to lead the No. 3 Tigers past Robert C. Byrd, 2-1 in the quarterfinal round.
With the victory, the Tigers (28-7) will face No. 2 St. Albans in the second semifinal Friday afternoon.
“You come to Huntington expecting a dog fight. That’s what we had,” said Shady Spring head coach Kendrick Epling. “Our guys pushed through. We’ve had dog fights all year. That’s what we told them when we came here. We’re looking for a dog fight. We want the one-run ball games. That determines how good a team is. They proved that they deserved to be here. I can’t wait until Friday.”
Wilhite broke a scoreless stalemate in the second inning with a two-run single to score Jacob Claypool and Spencer Morgan, giving Shady a 2-0 lead. RCB answered in the third inning when Ashton Shaffer delivered an RBI double to score Cooper Floyd. After that, only zeroes made their way onto the scoreboard the rest of the way.
Wilhite pitched out of a jam in the top of the seventh. A single from Floyd put runners on the corners for Byrd (23-12) with two out. However, Wilhite induced a grounder to third to end the threat.
Sam Barnett started on the mound and he pitched four innings for Shady. He allowed two hits and finished with 67 pitches. Wilhite threw 50 pitches in three shutout innings of relief. By staying under the threshold, both pitchers are eligible to take the mound Friday.
“Those are my two 1’s. They are my A and B 1’s. They got us here. For the most part, they got the bulk of our starting innings. That’s why we put them in the situation we put them in today.
Xavier Carvelli went the distance for Robert C. Byrd. He struck out five and allowed four hits.
Shady outhit RCB, 4-3.