“What just happened?”
Those were the words that came out of the mouth of Morgantown High School baseball coach Pat Sherald on Friday as his Mohigans won a wild 13-12 extra-inning contest over Wheeling Park. With the victory, MHS won the Class AAA Region 1, Section 1 title, and advances to regional play the week of May 23.
But, to answer the question of the night – a lot happened.
The Mohigans (19-7) held a 12-4 lead entering the seventh inning but then the Patriots (12-10), who finished with 18 hits in the contest, scored eight runs on six hits to tie the contest. Luke Marsh provided the big hit in the inning as he lined a single to right field. Nate Bittinger, Michael Bittinger and Jared Marsh also had one RBI in the frame.
“We have always said looking at our season, if we get five or six runs, we would win the ball game,” Wheeling Park coach Steve Myers said. “When you get to the postseason, you can throw everything out the window and I think we saw that tonight.”
The play of the game came in the top of the eighth inning when MHS’s Aaron Jamison made a fantastic running catch in centerfield off the bat of Nate Bittinger. If Jamison does not make the play, the Patriots would have taken the lead in the eighth.
“That kid works so hard in practice on his defense,” Sherald said of his star outfielder. “It doesn’t surprise me that he made the catch. He probably won the ball game for us with that play.”
Jamison’s play set up the bottom of the eighth for the Mohigans. Ty Galusky got things going with a one-out single and then Caleb Nutter drew a walk. Lance Whanger was intentionally walked after Galusky and Nutter advanced on a wild pitch. That set up senior Domenic Colasante and the biggest at bat of the season for him.
“I’m not going to lie, I was a little jittery going into it,” Colasante said. “Seeing the bases loaded, one out and everyone in the crowd was into it. The pitcher was staring me down and I was staring him back. I was just trying to do something simple to get that run in.”
Colasante did exactly that as he drew a four-pitch walk to win the game for the Mohigans and capture their fourth-straight sectional crown.
Morgantown appeared to be in control several times in the contest. The Mohigans grabbed a 7-0 lead through four innings before the Patriots responded with four runs in the fifth inning to cut the deficit to 7-4.
MHS then scored five more runs in the sixth, two on the 13th home run of the season from Jamison, for the 12-4 lead before Wheeling Park tied the game in the top of the seventh. Then came Jamison’s catch in the top of the eighth and Colasante’s walk-off walk in the bottom of the eight.
Luke Marsh led the Patriots with two hits and four RBI, Nate Bittinger, Jared Marsh, and Quinn Jamison also had two hits for WPHS. Michael Bittinger was 3-for-4 with a double and one RBI. Braydon Kupsky, who was the hard-luck loser on the mound, added three hits with three RBI as well.
Morgantown finished 12 hits of its own as Jamison had three hits including the home run and a double with two RBI, Jeffrey Poach added two hits while Caleb Nutter had a two-run double.
The Mohigans now await the winner of Section 2 that should be completed tomorrow. University High School faced Bridgeport in a winner-take-all contest.
By Eric Herter
Wheeling Park (12-10)
Tsoras 3 1 1 0, N. Bittinger 3 1 2 1, M. Bittinger 4 2 3 1, L. Marsh 5 2 2 4, Degenova 3 1 1 0, Kupsky 5 1 3 3, Crumm 4 1 1 0, J. Marsh 4 1 2 1, Simons 4 0 1 0, Jamison 5 2 2 2. Totals 40 12 18 12.
Morgantown (19-7)
Kennell 4 1 1 1, Fluharty 3 1 1 1, Jamison 4 3 3 2, Poach 5 2 2 1, Cottle 3 0 0 0, Frombach 1 0 0 0, Mazey 1 0 0 0, Galusky 2 3 2 0, Nutter 3 2 1 2, Whanger 3 1 1 1, Colasante 3 0 1 2. Totals 32 13 12 10.
WPHS 000 040 80 – 12 18 2
MHS 130 305 01 – 13 12 2
HR – MHS: Jamison
2B – WP: M. Bittinger MHS: Galusky, Jamison, Nutter
WP: Travinski 1ip, 0h, 0r, 0er, 0bb, 0k
LP: Kupsky 1.2ip, 1h, 1r, 1er, 4bb, 2k
