MORGANTOWN – It’s been 10 years since Travis Renner last won a baseball game as a member of University High.
On Thursday, that changed as Renner watched his Hawks pick up a 10-9 eight-inning victory over East Fairmont
It was Renner’s first victory as head coach of his alma mater.
“I was sitting in the dugout the last couple of innings and it all kind of came back to me,” Renner, a 2014 graduate of UHS, said. “It’s kind of weird to see how things have changed.”
Thursday’s game was a bit of a throwback to Renner’s playing days. He was primarily a catcher for the Hawks while earning all-state recognition before going on to play collegiately at West Virginia Wesleyan College. He would also come in to pitch for the Hawks.
During Thursday’s game against the Bees, it was catcher Max Cash who came from behind the plate to pick up the win on the mound for the Hawks (1-1).
“I’m not sure UHS has had a catcher come in from behind the plate and pitch since I played,” Renner said with a laugh. “Things kind of came full circle.”
Renner has already experienced two wild games in his young coaching career. Earlier this week, the Hawks held a slim 2-1 win over Wheeling Park through four innings before losing a mercy-rule shortened contest to the Patriots.
On Thursday, the Hawks trailed twice in the game before picking up the victory.
Renner, who has been on the American Legion Post 2 coaching staff for the past several summers, said the 2025 version of UHS is going to see some ups and down early on as the team has five freshmen and two sophomores on the 21-man roster.
“We kind of expect this,” Renner said. “Especially early in the year. We have some young guys in the mix, we have some new faces that haven’t been in the program before. We have a big turn over in the coaching staff and we are going to work through that.”
One of those new faces for the Hawks came through big on Thursday as senior Brock Shuba hit a one-out single to right field that scored Colson Jenkins for the winning run. Shuba, a transfer from Trinity Christian School, said he knew the game was over when he made contact.
“I was just trying to attack the baseball,” Shuba said. “I was just trying to make good contact, and I am glad that I did.”
Shuba’s late-game heroics were set up by Jenkins who led off the inning with a triple and then scored on Shuba’s single.
The Bees led the Hawks 2-0 early before a four-run inning from UHS in the second inning. However, East Fairmont cut the lead to 4-3 in the fourth and took a 6-4 lead in the fifth. University grabbed a 9-6 lead in the sixth and appeared to have the game closed in the seventh before the Bees scored three runs in the seventh to tie the game.
That’s when Shuba and Jenkins finished the game for UHS.
Cash picked up the victory for UHS as he pitched the final two innings. He also had a double, single and one RBI in the game. Jenkins, Lukas Neer and Thomas Croston each added two hits and one RBI.
UHS used five different pitchers in the contest and hit eight of the East Fairmont batters. The Hawks return to action on Saturday, when they host perennial power Jefferson at 1 p.m. for a doubleheader.
Story by Eric Herter
Box score
EAST FAIRMONT
Music 2 2 0 0, Bledsoe 2 1 0 1, Velti 4 1 0 1, Schnore 3 1 2 3, Boone 4 0 0 0, McKnight 2 1 1 2, McClain 4 1 0 0, Linn 3 1 1 0, Hawkins 4 0 0 1, Beckley 2 1 1 0. Totals: 30 9 5 8.
UNIVERSITY (1-1)
Grabo 4 2 0 0, McCune 4 0 1 2, Cash 4 1 2 1, Montague 5 1 1 1, Jenkins 5 2 2 1, Neer 5 1 2 1, Alexander 2 1 1 1, Stiles 2 1 1 1, Deiriggi 1 0 0 0. Totals: 35 10 12 9.
2B – Beckley, McKnight. Cash. 3B – Jenkins.
Pitching
WP – Cash 2 ip, 2h, 1r, 1er, 1bb, 4k. LP – Schnore 1.1ip, 2h, 1r, 1er 1bb, 2k
