Silas Wines, left, shakes hands with Randy Walters during a ceremony honoring the 1975 Parkersburg South state championship baseball team at Hank Greenburg Field. Coach Roy McCase, center, holds a baseball donated to the team by Wines. (Photo Provided by Charles Crookshanks)

PARKERSBURG — During the 1975 state baseball championship between Parkersburg South and Tridelphia, a random foul ball flew into the stands at City Park and into the hands of a then 11-year-old Greg Eaton.

At the time, nobody knew how important that baseball would end up being.

After the Patriots defeated Tridelphia 1-0 to claim the program’s first and, to this point, only state title, Eaton had the ball autographed by every player on the South roster.

Eaton held onto the ball for years before finally gifting it to his 11-year-old grandson, Silas Wines. Wines, an avid baseball player and enthusiast, was more than happy to have the souvenir.

However, when the 1975 team reunited for a special ceremony prior to the Patriots’ April 15 game against Fort Frye, Eaton had a discussion with his grandson about how much the ball would probably mean to the players who had signed it.

The 1975 Parkersburg South baseball team was recognized prior to the Patriots’ game against Fort Frye on April 15 at Hank Greenburg Field. The 1975 team is the only group in program history to win the state championship. (Photo Provided by Charles Crookshanks)

Wines then made the admirable decision to donate the ball back to the program, and it will be placed in a display at the high school honoring the state championship team. Wines, however, didn’t go home empty-handed, as the team signed another ball for him to keep in place of the one he donated.

“We worked some deals with him,” laughed Randy Walters, a pitcher on the 1975 South team. “He was tickled to death.”

The ball Wines ended up with was actually another ball from the state final that South coach Roy McCase had obtained.

“I had an original baseball from that game at my house that was donated to me by one of the spectators that was there,” McCase said. “I’ve had that all these years. When people started talking about baseballs, I’m sitting there going, ‘Well wait a minute. I’ve got one from that game.’ I thought maybe we could do an exchange of the baseballs. That’s what we did, and that little guy, he was just tickled pink.”

Wines also received a T-shirt signed by all the players and will have his name engraved on a plaque that will appear in the showcase at the school.

Walters played a major role in getting the 1975 team back together.

He made a phone call to Joe Miller, the president of the South baseball boosters. The boosters jumped on board, and then Walters began reaching out to his former teammates and coaches.

“Everything kind of fell into place,” Walters said.

The team got together for a dinner at Der Dog Haus the night before the game. Walters said it was surreal feeling being reunited with squad.

“When you don’t see people for 50 years, they change,” he said. “People change over 50 years. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to set this up.”

Walters’ claim to fame is that he pitched all seven of South’s tournament games that year. He pitched the Patriots past Seth, 4-3, in Huntington to advance to the semifinals.

Walters then pitched a shutout against Herbert Hoover in the semis in Charleston as South won 1-0 to move on to the championship game, which was also scheduled to take place in the state capital.

However, heavy rains kept postponing the game.

Finally, McCase suggested to the WVSSAC that the game be played in Parkersburg at City Park. The SSAC agreed, and the championship game took place on June 10, 1975.

“This actually happened,” McCase recalled. “I’m standing there with (SSAC executives) Gordon Eismon and Sam Williams and we’re trying to figure out what to do. They looked at me and said, ‘Coach McCase, we’re losing our shirt on this deal. We’re not making any money on this tournament.’ I’m standing there behind home plate and I’ve got water up to my ankles. I looked at them and said, ‘Guys, I’d like to make a suggestion.’ I said, ‘Let’s take this final game to City Park in Parkersburg. Parkersburg is a football town, but second, Parkersburg is a baseball town. I guarantee you will have a crowd.'”

By the time June 10 rolled around, Walters was able to rest his arm up. He took the mound against Tridelphia and fired another shutout in front of a jam-packed City Park crowd. The start of the game was actually delayed because fans were still trying to get in.

“I told the guys before the game, ‘There’s a lot of people out there wanting to see you play,'” McCase said. “By the time the game started you could not see a hole in the fence. The fence was totally covered (by fans) all the way around the field.”

Nicknamed Randy “No Walk” Walters, the South ace finished with a 9-2 record and issued just four free passes all season — though two of those were intentional.

Walters quickly pointed out that the Patriots’ state title run was a total team effort, highlighting the defense behind him as a big reason why he was able to pitch so effectively.

McCase was joined by Mike Hayden and Dave Butterfield on the coaching staff. The roster featured Walters, Mike Valentine, Buddy Munday, Rich Rollyson, Nick Osburn, Randy Balsley, Tim Moore, Greg Wine, Rick Olcott, Scott Hill, Tim Lockhart, Rick Smith, Mike McGee, Ivan Watson (deceased) and Tim Carmichael (deceased).

A portion of the proceeds from the Fort Frye-South game last month will go toward new baseball and softball facilities for the Patriots that are set to be part of Erickson All-Sports Facility.

“South is getting ready to break ground for a brand new baseball field that they’ve never had,” Walters said. “Never have had a baseball field that they could call home. The night of our ceremony brought a big crowd, and the gate money actually went to the new baseball/softball field.”

Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@newsandsentinel.com.