MORGANTOWN — One of the many unwritten rules in baseball is to never talk with a pitcher during a bid for a no hitter.
Consider University High School coach Travis Renner a rule breaker.
With his Hawks leading 4-0 through four innings and senior pitcher Jacob Kennison tossing a no-hit gem, Renner pulled Kennison aside and made the decision to pull the pitcher.
“I looked at Jacob when he came off that inning, and he looked at me, and obviously he doesn’t want to come out of the game,” Renner said. “But he said ‘We didn’t come here to win one game. We came here to win all of these games.’”
The game was a first-round Class AAAA regional contest against Preston and ended with a 4-1 Hawks’ victory.
University jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the young Knights’ squad as Daniel Grabo provided a two-run single and Tommy Montague slugged an RBI ground-rule double.
“It seems like every game we come with those big starts in the first and we kind of coast a little bit throughout the game,” Renner said. “We can’t coast any more. We got to keep putting the pressure on. We got to keep going.”
UHS added its final run in the second inning when Brance McCune hit a two-out single to center that scored Barrett Shuba who led off the inning with a single of his own.
The Hawks (16-12) had the bases loaded in the third inning with just one out, but Preston was able to wiggle out of the jam thanks to solid pitching and defense.
“That was huge,” PHS head coach Glen McNew said. “We did exactly what we needed to do. That’s what I expect of them all the time. Be ready and make every play and we made them like we were supposed to – if we can do that for a complete game, we can beat anybody.”
McNew said his team’s inability to find its offense on Monday was a bit of a surprise.
“All day on Saturday, we had the pitching machine throwing 90 and we hit it great,” McNew said. “And we come over here and I wish I could explain it. We’ll get them coached up a little bitter, and we’ll be ready to roll on Wednesday.”
Preston will face the loser of Morgantown High and University on Wednesday in a regional elimination game.
The Knights (8-10-1) finally broke through in the sixth inning as they racked up three hits including a double off the bat of Bryson McNew. Their lone run scored when Lyric Moats hit a one-out single and then later scored on an error by UHS.
Renner turned to senior Daniel Grabo to close the game out and pick up the save. He struck out three in one and one-third innings of work.
“Danny has been our guy that we’ve been able to rely on late in the games,” Renner said. “Nothing against any of our pitchers, but after a couple of at bats, it was time to go to the guy that we have put in that spot more than anybody else.”
— Story by Eric Herter
Box score
PHS – Manko 3 0 0 0, Moyer 4 0 0 0, McNew 3 0 1 0, Moats 2 1 1 0, Lowe 2 0 0 0, Thomas 3 0 1 1, McVicker 1 0 0 0, Ward 2 0 0 0, Peaslee 2 0 0 0, Thaler 2 0 0 0. Totals: 24 1 3 1.
UHS – Quarrick 4 1 0 0, McCune 3 1 2 1, Cash 3 0 1 0, Grabo 3 1 1 2, Montague 2 0 1 1, Neer 3 0 1 0, Jenkins 2 0 1 0, Ba. Shuba 3 1 1 0, Br. Shuba 2 0 0 0. Totals: 25 4 8 4.
2B – PHS: McNew. UHS: Montague.
WP – Kennison 4ip 0h 0r 0er 2bb 4k. LP – Thomas 3.1ip 8h 4r 3er 1bb 2k. S – Grabo 1.1ip 0h 0r 0er 1bb 3k
