Regional semifinals await area teams

South to face Nitro; Wirt to play Williamstown

By KERRY PATRICK, kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com
PARKERSBURG —The bar was set at the end of the regular season for the Parkersburg South baseball team. Now the Patriots are looking to clear that hurdle and advance deeper into the Class AAA postseason tournament.

Parkersburg South (19-14) plays at Nitro (28-4) today in a Region IV semifinal. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. The two teams met in Parkersburg South’s regular-season finale. The news was not so comforting for the Patriots after they lost 13-0 in five innings.

“The good thing is that our kids got to see where the bar is at in the state of West Virginia,” Patriots first-year coach Matt Null said. “The reason they are ranked No. 1 by the Charleston Gazette starts with their pitching staff. We faced two pitchers who both threw 84 miles per hour. We don’t have those kind of arms in our program yet, so we’ve been working in batting practice with our pitchers throwing from 40 to 45 feet.”

The winner advances to Thursday’s regional finals at Ripley High School against the winner of Hurricane (20-11) and Spring Valley (16-11).

In Class A, Williamstown (26-5) is seeking to make it four wins in four tries this year against Wirt County (18-8) when both teams travel to Dave Wilson Field in St. Marys for a Region I semifinal. Game time is 6:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to Thursday’s regional finals at Magnolia High School in New Martinsville against the winner of Paden City (22-11) and Wheeling Central (15-13).

“Williamstown has been kind of rough on us,” Wirt County coach Mike Calebaugh said.

Williamstown defeated Wirt County 13-12 and 7-4 during the regular season then knocked off the Tigers 10-6 in the Little Kanawha Conference semifinals. The Yellowjackets are led offensively by Brad Davis, who batted .667 (8-for-12) with a double and a home run and drove in five runs over three sectional games. Teammate Justin Wajda contributed five doubles with three RBIs. On the mound, Williamstown’s ace Drew Townsend posted two victories in two starts and struck out 11 over 12 innings of works.

Wirt County relies on its top four hitters in the batting lineup — Josh Valentine, Jesse Ward, Adam Brogdon and Michael Davis — to set the tone. All four just happen to be first-team All-LKC selections.

For Parkersburg South, meanwhile, the program has made great strides since opening the regular season 1-7. Coach Null credits pitching coach Nathan Haynes with part of the Patriots’ success.

“Nathan does a great job with our pitchers —he teaches them how to pitch and not just throw,” Null said.

“There is a reason why the pitcher’s position is ‘1’ — it’s the most important position in the game.”