Williamstown state bound: Down to last out, ’Jackets rally past Knights for regional title
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WILLIAMSTOWN - Maxwell Molessa's mantra about his approach to baseball played out for the second time in three days as Williamstown again rallied late and defeated Wheeling Central, 6-5 in nine inning, in a Class A regional championship game Wednesday at Legion Field.
"We've been working together this week and giving everything we got," Molessa said. "I'll say it until I die, 'We are never out of the fight.'
"We kept that mentality each and every day. Obviously, the first day we were down big, 14-3, and came back. Tuesday was a heartbreak. Today we came out a little slow, but luckily we got some guys on and got some guys in."
Trailing 5-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Molessa walked to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. The senior was 0-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout in his previous three at bats against WCC starting pitcher freshman Jake Brown.
Molessa made an adjustment and blasted an offering into right-center field. All three baserunners scored standing up, and Molessa followed suit with the tying run after he reached third on a triple and advanced home when the relay was thrown out of play.
"I think I was trying a bit too much the first few at bats," Molessa said. "The last time, it was about staying relaxed, getting on top of the baseball. I was under it the first two ABs, so I was just trying to make that adjustment. Fortunately, I did and it worked out."
Two innings later, Molessa's number came up again with the game still tied at 5. With one out, lead-off hitter Wyatt Powell worked the count full and eventually walked.
With WCC reliever Matt Criniti now working the mound in his second inning of work, Molessa pulled a pitch down the right field line. Molessa thought he caught it all. Instead, right fielder Braxton Billick raised his arm as if the ball had rolled under the fence for a ground-rule double.
However, no signal was ever given by the umpire making his way toward the fence and Powell continued and crossed home plate for the game-winner.
WCC coach Todd Cover was livid, commenting how his fielder did exactly what he was instructed to do per the pre-game conversation between coaches and umpires on ground rules.
'Their coach told us there are a lot of holes in the outfield," Cover said. "We were told if the ball goes under the fence, put your hands up - which we did. The umpires did not stop the action like they should have.
"We were told in the umpires meeting what to do. We did that and they did not stop it."
Molessa pitched the first three innings for Williamstown (29-4), allowing four runs on five hits, before giving way to sophomore Jenner Burge. The right-hander allowed just one run on three hits over six innings of work. He also walked six and struck out six.
"Jenner shut them down," Williamstown coach Levi Maxwell said. "Burge gave us everything he had. He is a heck of a competitor. He doesn't show a whole lot of emotion on the mound, which I think is awesome."
In what turned out to be three one-run outcomes in as many games, WCC ends the campaign at 24-5.
The Maroon Knights fired the first salvo on the game-s opening pitch as Billick hit a solo homer over the left field fence. On a day with a stiff breeze blowing directly out to center, WCC added two runs in the second inning before Zayne Rosnick blasted a home run from the other side of the plate to put the Knights in front 4-0.
"Williamstown got the hits when they needed to," coach Cover said. "This one stings a lot. Anytime you lose a regional championship when you think you had it and think you are the better team it's not going to feel good. Life goes on and we have to move on, figure it out and come back next year stronger."
Dating back to Game 2, Williamstown went scoreless for 13 innings until Parker Schramm who doubled with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning scored on a sacrifice fly from Burge. That started a string of eight batters Brown retired.
The string ended when Carson Hill led off the seventh inning with a walk. Wyatt Siley and Powell were both hit by pitches to load the bases. The Yellowjackets were down to their final out leading up to Molessa's little league home run.
"There are no words to explain what happened the past three days," coach Maxwell said. "Never give up. Don't count us out. No lead is safe.
"The one thing that has been consistent with this team is that we play the entire game all the way through."
Contact Kerry Patrick at kpaytrick@newsandsentinel.com