Parker Schramm of Williamstown throws to first in warmups before a baseball game against Wahama at Legion Field in Williamstown (Photo by Aaron Lee)

WILLIAMSTOWN – For the second time this season, two Little Kanawha Conference and state powerhouses clashed on Tuesday. According to MetroNews baseball power rankings, Williamstown and Wahama are ranked second and third in the state respectively. Earlier in the year, the two titans opened the season in Mason with a game the Yellowjackets won by a final of 3-1. The result was the same in the second go-around, with Williamstown winning a higher scoring game, 8-3.

Jenner Burge opened the game with a pitching clinic for the Yellowjackets, retiring nine straight batters with four strikeouts.

In the bottom half of the first, Williamstown’s bats got to work to give Burge a lead. The Yellowjackets scored three runs in the frame off of an RBI sac fly by Ty Ott and a two-run single by Carson Hill.

After adding three in the first, the Yellowjackets did the same in the second. Maxwell Molessa got Williamstown out to a 4-0 lead with an RBI single and the other two runs came by way of a two-RBI single by Ott. The onslaught forced White Falcons’ pitching change from Parker Fields to ace Bryce Zuspan. Both teams were held scoreless in the third.

Wahama got on the board in the fourth, shrinking Williamstown’s lead to 6-2. After back to back walks, Hayden Lloyd capitalized on the runner in scoring position and hit a two-run double.

Williamstown’s Jenner Burge winds up to pitch in a baseball game against Wahama at Legion Field in Williamstown (Photo by Aaron Lee)

The Yellowjackets were once again held scoreless by Zuspan in the fourth. Williamstown had a rocky start to the top of the fifth, with Burge giving up a double to Seth Ohlinger and a walk.

At this point, the Yellowjackets elected to change pitchers, switching to Parker Schramm.

After allowing a walk that loaded the bases and an RBI sac fly by Wahama’s Aden Young, Schramm got out of the inning otherwise unscathed, striking out the last batter.

Zuspan continued to cause problems for the Yellowjackets, preventing them from adding to their lead in the bottom of the fifth. Williamstown went three up and three down, including two strikeouts by the White Falcons’ ace.

In the bottom of the sixth, Wahama switched to pitcher Aden Young. The ‘Jackets got some insurance runs before the final inning, with Molessa drilling an RBI double and Ott sending home a runner on a sacrifice. Going into the final inning, Williamstown led 8-3.

In the top of the seventh, Schramm was able to secure victory, giving himself a save and Burge the win. He had four strikeouts on the day, as did Burge.

Schramm, despite the challenge that facing the White Falcons with two runners on base and no outs presented, felt comfortable on the mound because of his teammates in the field, “I have a lot of confidence in the defense. I know they’re gonna make plays behind me so I don’t have to do too much.”

He described what a win like this will do for the Yellowjackets going forward, “It means a lot. It gives us a ton of confidence going into the future. We play a lot of games soon, so it’s good to get that confidence after a big win.”

Molessa was the only batter for either team with multiple hits, going 2-4 with a double, two RBIs and three runs. Ott led the Yellowjackets with four runs batted in.

“It was a really good team game. We hit well, the pitchers threw strikes and the defense backed them up. It’s good when you’re scoring runs, guys getting on, getting them around and in,” commented Ott.

With half of his RBIs coming on sacrifice plays, Ott discussed the importance of simply getting the ball into the field, “You gotta know coming up to the plate that you just have to put the ball in play. Give your guys a chance so they can score.”

Williamstown head coach Levi Maxwell gave his thoughts after the big win, “When you’re playing a team like Wahama, there’s not a lot of room for mistakes. We jumped up on them there early in the game. Burge was throwing the ball really well, we were hitting well. Then they (Wahama) made the pitching change with Zuspan and he definitely kept us off balance. Then they put some runs up there, but I think not panicking in that situation was good for us. We’ve done a great job of staying true to the game. Parker came in and shut the door there like he has before. That was his first time out there this year. I thought we played a great game. We didn’t have any errors, so we played good ball.”

With the win, Williamstown improved to 7-0. The White Falcons now sit at 7-3.