MORGANTOWN – The Morgantown High baseball team fell to the defending Class AAA state champions Cabell Midland 7-5 on a crisp Friday afternoon on Wagener Field at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
The Knights (8-2) scored their seven runs on 11 hits, with six of those runs coming in the first three innings. Seven different batters for CM earned a hit with only three strikeouts coming from the entire lineup.
The Mohigans (7-3) were also hot out of the gate with all five of their runs coming in their first two trips to the plate. MHS third baseman Dylan Travinski led his team going 3 for 3 at the plate with three RBI, one run scored, and a walk drawn. The Mohigans earned 10 free bases as a team.
“That’s a tough team who are defending state champions for a reason and a very gritty ball club,” MHS head coach Pat Sherald said. “I’m proud of the ways our boys competed. They (Cabell Midland) did well with two strikes and put the ball in play and made things happen. Dylan Travinski swung the bat well for us today and we gave ourselves a chance to win.”
MHS starter Hunter Dakan started well with a quick 1-2-3 first inning, and his offense responded with three runs in the bottom half.
Senior Caleb Nutter tripled to right field to break the ice as Weston Mazey touched home. Travinski then followed with a double to score a second run, then scored the third run himself when Nate Wolfe singled.
CM proved why it is the defending champion though, and came back in the top of the second with four runs of its own on three singles and a balk that gave them a 4-3 lead.
It didn’t take long for MHS to snatch the lead again though, as Travinski drove in two more runs on a single to center field allowing Mazey and Koa Silvers to score.
“Dylan has a simple approach at the plate and is seeing the ball well right now,” Sherald said. “He’s just not trying to do too much. He’s hitting balls hard and the ones that are in play give himself a chance.”
The Knights tied the game at five with a single in the top of the third and took the lead 6-5 on a bases-loaded walk.
Both offenses stalled a bit after the third inning, still putting the ball in play but staying sound defensively. Only one error was committed in the entire game between both clubs.
CM added the seventh run on a fielder’s choice double play in the top of the fifth inning. The Mohigans left runners on second and third to end the game in the bottom of the seventh.
“I told our guys after the game we have to find a way to get those hits when we have big opportunities,” Sherald said as MHS left the bases loaded in multiple innings. “That’s what Cabell Midland did today and in the future we need to be the team that does that. That’s a quality opponent and that’s want we want every game is to battle.”
BOX SCORE
Cabell Midland 7, Morgantown 5
CM 042 010 0 – 7 11 0
MHS 320 000 0 – 5 7 1
Cabell Midland – Johnson 3000 Williams 4011 Collins 3010 Samuel 4000 Alfrey 4230 Fulks 3110 McCormill 4232 McGinnis 3211 Hettlinger 2011
2B: Alfrey
Morgantown – Silvers 3100 Mazey 0200 Nutter 3011 Travinski 3133 Boggs 2000 Fields 4010 Jeffries 2000 Wolfe 3011 Bowers 4010
2B: Travinski
3B: Nutter
WP: Maynard 3.1ip 3h 0r 2bb 1k
LP: Dakan 4.0ip 10h 7r 6bb 3k
