Riverside Defeats South Charleston, Advances to Regional Title Game

Riverside advanced to the Class AAA Region 3 baseball championship game with a 4-1, 8-inning victory at South Charleston on Tuesday night. For my Daily Mail article on the game, click here.

With the win, the Warriors advance to play in the regional title game for the second consecutive season. Riverside will play at Beckley 5 p.m. Wednesday in the championship contest.

Despite a sub .500 record at 13-15, the Warriors have played their best baseball at the most important time of the season.

“I know that we don’t have a winning record, but we also know our record is not any type of epitome of what type of baseball team we have," Riverside coach Chris Hawkins said.

In addition to timely hitting, Riverside won behind the strong pitching performance of senior Tyler Hall.

Hall tossed eight innings, striking out seven. He allowed one run on six hits and did not walk a batter. Hall's only blemish occurred in the fourth inning when he allowed three hits.

“He showed tonight why he’s one of the best in the state," Hawkins said. "He had one bad inning, I thought, where he left the ball up and they got a couple hits back-to-back and scored a run. He wasn’t finishing his pitches. We just kind of pulled him and say ‘Hey, you know just get over your land leg, finish your pitches. You’re going to be all right.’"

Hall said after talking to his pitching coach about an adjustment, Hall returned to form.

“I just talked to my pitching coach about it and he told me that all I needed to is instead of – the mound’s got a little lump in it so he said that I’ve got to force, kind of force my body down," Hall said. "Instead of staying up, he wants me just to drive down and really exaggerate to drive down.

After the third, Hall did not allow another run as he reasserted his dominance.

Meanwhile, South Charleston's Jarod Jobst pitched an equally impressive performance before facing adversity in the eighth inning.

Below is a breakdown of the game's most important innings that resulted in Riverside's 4-1 victory.

Riverside 3rd: Cameron Norris started the inning with the game's first hit. With Derik Chestnut batting, Norris advanced to second base on a passed ball. Chestnut later laid down a sacrifice bunt that advanced Norris to third base. Brandon Hancock followed with an RBI groundout to produce the game's first run.

SC 4th: Antonio Brown ripped the game's only extra-base hit, a double to left field with one out. Brown advanced to third on a fielding error during the throw to the Riverside cut-off man. Next, Black Eagles shortstop Austin Santrock hit an RBI single to right field to score Brown and tie the contest at 1-1. With Trevor Sampson batting, Santrock advanced to second base on an error during a pick-off attempt. With two outs, Jacob Marler ripped a single to right field. Riverside right fielder Aaron Halstead fielded the ball and threw to catcher Trevor Rumberg, who applied the tag at the plate for the out to end the inning.

SC 6th: Black Eagles lead-off hitter Jacob Marler started the inning with an infield single. Next, Cole Lanier laid down a sacrifice bunt that advanced Marler to second base. Then, Brown hit a grounder to the Riverside shortstop. The shortstop fielded and threw to first, but the throw pulled the first baseman from the bag, as runners reached first and third safely. With Santrock at the plate, Brown stole second base, so that SC had runners at second and third with one out. However, Hall recovered to strike out back-to-back Black Eagle batters to escape the inning unharmed.

Riverside 7th: Trevor Rumberg hit a one-out single. Rumberg later advanced to second on an error during a pick-off attempt, but the Warriors could not capitalize on the runner in scoring position.

SC 7th: Marler started the inning with a single to left field as it appeared the Black Eagles were in business. Jonathan Pauley followed with a sacrifice bunt attempt. Hall, from the mound, fielded the bunt and fired to Chestnut at second base for the force out. Chesnut turned and threw to first base to complete the double play. The play proved vital as Jobst followed with a bases-empty single. Had Riverside not been able to get the force out on Pauley's bunt, then Jobst's single may have been a walk-off hit.

Riverside 8th: Chesnut led off with a single to right. Just as SC bunted with no out and a runner on first, Riverside's Brandon Hancock laid down a sacrifice bunt. Jobst fielded the bunt, and like Hall, he turned to throw to second base. A good throw would have resulted in an out at second, but instead a throwing error allowed runners safely to first and second. Hall followed with a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners further into scoring position at second and third.With Brady Wilkinson at the plate, a wild pitch allowed Chesnut to score and give the Warriors a 2-1 lead. While Wilkinson eventually flied out, Halstead followed with an RBI single to left, scoring Hancock. Chaz Davis then hit a single on a hit-and-run play as Halstead moved to third. Next, Rumberg hit an RBI single to right field as Halstead scored. Riverside led 4-1.

SC 8th: Hall retired the side in order to end the game.

Winfield Baseball Advances to Regional Championship

Winfield advanced to its second straight Class AAA Region 4 baseball championship with a 5-0 win against visiting Logan on Monday night. For my recap on the game in today’s Daily Mail, click here.

The Generals advance to play host to Cabell Midland at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Senior pitcher Josh Bumgarner carried Winfield en route to the championship behind his complete-game, one-hitter. At the plate, Bumgarner also finished 2-for-3 with a two-run single in the sixth to extend the Generals’ lead to 5-0.

Winfield (15-16) has played its best ball all season in the postseason, winning five of its last six games. During its postseason run, the Generals have shut out opponents three of the last four games -- the only shutouts Winfield has recorded all season.

“We’re playing well because we’re playing to our identity,” Winfield coach Will Isaacs said. “We’re not trying to hit the ball out. We’re not trying to strike everybody out. We’re pitching to contact, making the plays, we’re putting the ball in play and having good at-bats, and you have a chance then. I’m not saying you’re going to win, but you have a chance.”

The Generals’ play is most impressive as the team overcame some early-season struggles with the departure of one of Winfield’s top returning players in pitcher Mason Dillon, as well as the suspension of Dana Harper, who has since returned to the team.

“We had some adversity and changes in the middle of the season,” Isaacs said. “Some people went to some new positions and I told my team it may take a while to adjust and we had some guys we had to pitch their first varsity games, and we took some lumps, but we had to get guys playing in certain positions and in certain roles, and I told them if you just be patient and keep working, not give in, we have a chance to win, that we would get better as the season went on.”

Bumgarner said he agreed with his coach, that the Generals have persevered to shine at the perfect time.

“I definitely think we’re getting stronger throughout the season and peaking at the right point,” he said. “We practice harder than anyone I know and it’s really paying off right now. We don’t have the best talent around here, but you get in elimination games and anything can happen. That’s where hard work really comes out to show and I think that’s really what’s carried us this far.”

Meanwhile, for Logan (20-10), Monday’s loss marked the Wildcats’ final game of the season and the end to high school careers for four players.

“It’s never easy,” Logan coach Roger Gertz said of the season-ending loss. “It’s always tough with your seniors. We had four great kids help lead this team in Trent Dalton, Johnny Morrison, Benji Adkins and Alex Lakatos, and they worked hard, not just when we started. They started working last August and never stopped, and I really admire what they did.”

Below, I’ll do my best to recap Monday’s game, including its most important innings.

Logan 3rd: Logan manufactured its best threat in the third inning when senior Alex Lakatos led off the inning with the Wildcats’ lone hit of the game. Lakatos singled up the middle to start the inning. Next, Trent Dalton laid down a bunt fielded by Bumgarner, but a fielding error allowed Lakatos’ pinch-runner and Dalton to advance to first and second safely. Then, Kyle Harvey executed a sacrifice bunt to advance runners to second and third with one out. However, Bumgarner and the Winfield defense quelled the threat from that point. Bumgarner induced lead-off hitter Josh Rein to ground out to second base. Generals second baseman Casey Frye fielded the grounder and looked the third-base runner back to third before firing to first for the inning’s second out. Next, Chase Preston flied out to left field to end the inning.

Winfield 3rd: After a solid play in the field, Frye started the bottom half of the third inning with a single to left field. With two outs, Jordan Clark ripped a double to right field as Frye advanced to third. Next, Bumgarner hit a line drive back to starting pitcher Troy Burgess. The liner hit Burgess in what appeared to be the heel of his glove and he reacted to the shot. The ball deflected to the third base side of the infield. Logan’s third baseman fielded and threw onto first, but Bumgarner beat the throw to the bag as Frye scored the game’s first run.

Logan 4th: Bumgarner retired the Wildcats 1-2-3 on four pitches.

Winfield 4th: Winfield looked to add more runs, but an unfortunate play thwarted any such hopes. Bryan Bosley started the inning with a single to left field. Next up, Tanner Bailey laid down a sacrifice bunt toward the third base line. Logan catcher Zach Minnick fielded the ball and fired to first base. The ball looked to hit Bailey in the back. The umpiring crew ruled Bailey out as he was running out of the base line. Bosley, who had advanced to third base, was directed back to first. If not for the ruling, Winfield, at the least, would have had Bosley at second, and maybe even third, with one out, though it appeared even if Minnick’s throw were on target Bailey would have been safe. Instead, Winfield now had one out and a runner on first. The next Generals hitter slapped a grounder to the Logan second baseman, who tagged Bosley in between first and second and threw onto first base to complete the double play and end the inning. What looked to be a solid scoring threat quickly turned to nothing as Logan maintained its one-run deficit.

Winfield 5th: John Sneeringer hit a one-out single to left field. Next, lead-off hitter Brandon Wright hit a grounder up the middle. The Logan second baseman fielded behind the second base bag, but could not make a play on Sneeringer or Wright, as the runners reach first and second safely. The play proved costly as Jordan Clark followed with a two-run double to left field. Facing a 3-0 deficit, Logan coach Roger Gertz removed Burgess from the mound for reliever Chase Burnette, a freshman. Burnette faced just one batter, walking Bumgarner, before senior Johnny Morrison entered in relief. Morrison struck out the first batter he faced, before hitting Bosley to load the bases. Morrison, however, recovered to strike out the next batter and end the inning.

Logan 6th: The Wildcats threatened again by advancing another runner into scoring position, though came up empty. Harvey began the inning with a walk. With Josh Rein at the plate, Harvey advanced to second on a wild pitch. Bumgarner retired the next two batters after the walk to Harvey before facing Logan’s top slugger Minnick. With first base open, Bumgarner and the Generals opted for the “unintentional intentional” walk on four straight pitches outside the zone. The move paid off as Bumgarner avoided giving Logan’s best hitter a quality pitch to hit and Bumgarner retired the next batter on a fly out, ending the threat and inning.

Winfield 6th: The Generals scored twice on a two-out rally. With two outs, Sneeringer walked followed by another Wright single. Clark walked to load the bases. Next, Bumgarner ripped a two-run single to right field to all but cement the victory. Bear Bellomy then walked to once again load the bases. Freshman Jared Shawver entered in relief, spelling Morrison and recorded the inning’s final out.

Logan 7th: Bumgarner finished the game by striking out the side in the seventh, advancing Winfield to the regional championship in style.

Track State Meet Review

The annual West Virginia high school track and field state championships featured many memorable performances and achievements. While impossible to recap them all, I did my best to bring to life some of the meet’s top accomplishments for The Daily Mail. To read about some of the meet’s overall top performances, click here.

To read my state meet day one notebook that featured on Cabell Midland’s first-place shuttle hurdles relay team, click here.

For my state meet day two notebook, I focused on Capital freshman Tristan Slater who won the AAA boys pole vault. For more on Slater’s performance and other top day-two achievements, click here.

To check full meet results, visit www.runwv.com

Below, I wanted to include quotes from the many individuals I interviewed as I worked to produce these articles. However, as always is the case, not all the material from each interview can make an article, so here’s a place you can find out more on some of the meet’s top athletes.

Matt Cottrill, Point Pleasant coach

-on Point Pleasant senior Caleb Riffle defeating Cabell Midland standout Jacob Burcham in the AAA boys 800

“It’s one of those big races everyone’s watching Burcham. For me,  during the entire time, I’m jumping over that little wooden fence trying to watch the race, because our 4x100 time, we didn’t know what it was, and they announced the results. I’m trying to figure out what’s going on. I thought we placed in the 4x100, so I’m trying to peek through the fence and watching the race. I see Caleb’s in third place, right there with Burcham. They’re coming down the final stretch and I’ve got my watch on. I’m keeping track of the time and watching the time and peeking through the crack in the fence and watching the race, but I could see, I could see through a slightly big crack watching the race coming down that final stretch and see Caleb getting bigger and bigger and bigger and ended up crossing the line. I ended up having to ask for verification from people standing up at the finish line that he actually won. They told me the kid in the red. Well, all three of them are wearing red. After verification, it was Caleb who won with the red and the white stripes.”

-on Riffle’s determination

“He said ‘I know I can run a 1:55.’ At our regional, he ran a 1:58 and that was his fastest time, broke his school record again. He said he got boxed in at the beginning of the race. He kept saying all week, he said ‘I can run a 1:55,’ and for him to run a 1:54, man, it was just unbelievable.”

“He’s one of those kids last year I can remember going to the state meet, he wasn’t picked to place in the 800. I remember him telling me, he said ‘Coach, I’m not even picked to place in the 800, but I just ran – I think he just ran a 2:03 at the time, or it might have been 2:04, at regional and came in second, and he wasn’t even picked.”

-on what Riffle’s 800 win means to Point Pleasant’s track program

“I think this accomplishment with Caleb is going to help our track program tremendously. It’s been a big step for us moving to AAA, but getting a state champion this year and in the 800, it means a lot for Point Pleasant.”

-on Riffle establishing his legacy with the 800 win

“Jacob Burcham is a phenomenal runner. He’s one of the top runners to ever run in West Virginia and I think it’s just the topping on the cake for Caleb to go out and beat Burcham. It’s one of the things he would say. We would sit around and he would say I’m going to beat Burcham this week. You never know.”

Caleb Riffle, Point Pleasant senior

-on his friendship with Buffalo’s Dylan Rich, who also beat Burcham in the 800 this season

“Me and Dylan Rich are really good friends. He’s pretty much the one that’s helped my career, because we’re always at the same meets together and he’s pushed me.”

-on helping Point Pleasant to make a name in running

“No one thought we could do anything in AAA, because this is our first year coming up. We actually won the AAA state championship in ’86. My dad was on that team. He was a big part of that. The best 800 runner before me (at Point Pleasant) was like a 2:01. I broke that record middle of the season, because I’ve never went under 2 minutes until regionals I had a 1:58. I knew I surprised a lot of people today.”

Chris Parsons, Cabell Midland coach

-on Midland senior Brian Lawhon, who placed second in the 800

“Brian Lawhon had a phenomenal race. I wish he could have just hung on to win it. It was so close. He came up a tad short.”

-on Burcham’s career in sum for track and cross country

“He has 13 state titles in his career, 10 in track and he’s got all four state records with 4x800. In cross country, he’s won three times, so he’s got a total of 13, and then he’s got the state record in the cross country. I don’t know if you can even do more than what he’s accomplished.”

Jerry Smalley, Cabell Midland hurdles coach

-on the Knights defeating Parkersburg South in the AAA boys shuttle hurdles

“Parkersburg South put a lot of heat on us there at the end, but Nate didn’t melt. That’s a senior.”

Nate Moore, Midland senior hurdler, who won the 110-meter high hurdles, ran the anchor on the winning shuttle hurdle team and placed fourth in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles

-on winning the shuttle hurdles

“It’s awesome. That’s what I was looking forward to. Shuttles is my favorite event, always has been.”

Daniel Jarrell, Midland freshman hurdler, who ran on winning shuttle hurdle team

-on picking up hurdles as a freshman

“It’s not easy, but my Coach Smalley, he always says to stay smooth and steady. That’s what I did the whole time, that’s what these guys did, and that’s how we won.”

Niles Dailey, Midland senior hurdler

-on winning the shuttle hurdles as a senior

“It feels great. Last year, me and Nate had a disappointing meet. We didn’t make it out of everything, didn’t qualify for the 300s, so we were coming here making sure we scored some points, that we weren’t going to just rely on the distance guys. It’s awesome to win this race. I’m extremely proud of these guys, especially the two new ones. The difference between when we started and now, it’s tremendous and I think Smalley is amazing.”

Richie Wyant, Buffalo coach

-on Buffalo winning its third consecutive title in the Class AA boys 4x800

“I couldn’t find an 800 runner five years ago. I couldn’t have bought one. It’s just funny because we put an emphasis on it, talked about it, said we want to try to get involved and be a part of that race, be competitive in it and it just seems like it’s worked out we’ve had just enough guys to get us there and be competitive for the win.”

-on being the target in the 4x800

“We knew we had a big bull’s eye on us today. I told the kids, because they were looking at times throughout the year, I said ‘Listen, they’re going to be working trying to knock you off.’”

Payton Mullen, Charleston Catholic freshman

-on placing second in the Class A girls 1600

“It felt really good actually. It’s really crazy. I’ve only run the mile like four times.”

-on her gameplan for the mile

“Staying with everyone and then, at the end, finish with all you have.”