BECKLEY, W.Va. — Wheeling Post 1 scored six runs in the second inning and five more in the third to secure their third consecutive American Legion State Baseball Championship with an 11-8 win over Area 1 rival Parkersburg at Access Health Field/Linda K. Epling Stadium. With the win, Post 1 (29-7) remained unbeaten in postseason play and they secured a spot in the Southeast Regional Tournament.
“Definitely wasn’t probably our cleanest performance on our end. We started out a little big sluggish, I would say,” said Wheeling Post 1 head coach Scott Castilow. “We had two really big innings, which I really liked the fact that we responded when they did. You see it so often where guys just come out and they keep battling ABs, keep battling ABs. We were fortunate to come out on top today.”
Needing two victories on the tournament’s final day to take the state title, Parkersburg (20-11) scored four runs in the top of the second to build an early 4-0 lead. Seth Menarchek’s two-run single opened the scoring for Post 15.
However, Wheeling surged ahead in the bottom of the frame by sending 11 batters to the plate. Braxton Billick, Christopher Upton and Andrew Murdock all collected run-scoring base hits in the six-run uprising.
The lead for Post 1 would be short-lived. Post 15 evened the score at 6 in the top of the third with an RBI groundout from Wyatt Boice and a run-scoring single from Peyton West.
Wheeling responded with five runs in the bottom of the third to build an 11-6 lead. Parkersburg used sacrifice flies in the fourth and fifth innings to pull within three runs at 11-8, but they could not pull any closer.
Post 15 brought the tying run to the plate with two out in the seventh inning. However, Brady Ernest capped off four innings of relief by inducing a ground ball to end the game. Ernest allowed just two runs in relief of starter Jake Brown.
“To be able to have Brady come in there and do what he did, it was huge. He limited the damage and kind of dodged bullets here and there.”
Brown earned tournament Most Valuable Player honors for Post 1.
Wheeling went 5-0 in the state tournament after going 3-0 in Area 1 play. Post 1 outscored their opponents, 37-9 in the state tournament.
“It is a grind. We had five games here that we played. It is exactly that. It is a grind. I will say this, it is great for me to be up here. But the guys that were between the lines, they are the ones that deserve all the credit, and the coaching staff deserves the credit.”
Billick went 2-for-4 for Wheeling while Dom Fato, Ernest, Murdock, Upton and Brown all added base hits for Wheeling. West went 4-for-4 for Parkersburg while Boice added two hits for Post 15.
Wheeling will represent West Virginia in the Southeast Regional Tournament in Cherryville, N.C. Play begins August 5. Wheeling competed in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament in each of the last two seasons.
“I am really excited, man. I have been super excited about this regional even though there’s some really, really good teams that are going to be down there. They put us in the Southeast this year, instead of the Mid-Atlantic. So we’re going to see some different teams that we haven’t seen the last two years in the regional. We’ve got a great, great squad. I am super excited for those guys to experience it and hopefully we can just keep this thing rolling.”