Parkersburg Post 15's Dylan Holliday delivers a pitch during an Area One tournament game against Wheeling Post 1 Thursday. (Photo by Nick Henthorn)

WHEELING – The defending champs are headed back to the American Legion State Tournament.

Wheeling Post 1 defeated Parkersburg Post 15 in both games of their Thursday doubleheader to secure an Area One championship and a ticket to next week’s state tournament at Mylan Park in Morgantown.

After picking up a 5-2 win in the first game of the best-of-three series, Wheeling Park turned their offense up another notch to take the series 10-1 in the nightcap.

“It was a good day of baseball,” Post 1 manager Scott Castilow said. “A lot of grit, a lot of competitiveness from our guys. Having 12 hits, that definitely helps here in our second game. Our pitching was fantastic, first game and second game. Guys showed a lot of heart to get us here, where we need to be. Winning an area championship, that’s step one. Now heading to states, we’re looking to keep rolling and try to go back-to-back.”

After defeating Post 15 in the day’s first game, Post 1’s Henry Anderson thumped a first-inning grand slam to right field to set his team on the right path. Wheeling led 8-0 going into the sixth inning before Parkersburg’s Evan Swain launched a colossal clout well over the right field fence to put Post 15 on the board.

Reese Davis earned the win for Post 1, pitching into the sixth inning and striking out three, Swain’s homer the only blemish in his outing. Jake Brown polished off the game, striking out three in 1.2 innings pitched.

Carter McLain reached three times for Parkersburg, recording two walks and a double.

“The first game could’ve gone either way,” Parkersburg head coach Mike Goodwin said. “Pitching is key, as it is in any game, and Wheeling pitched better than we pitched. We had too many guys left on base, and our pitching was not as sharp as I was hoping it would be. Too many walks, too many hit batters, we just gave them extra outs. The summary of the two games is that our pitching kind of let us down- but to Wheeling’s credit, I think top-to-bottom they’re the best team in the state. I’ve seen most every team and I would put Wheeling at No.1 in my book.”

Zayde Billings collected two RBI for Post 1, while Jack Selmon, Brady Ernest and Rocco Digiandomenico all knocked in one run.

Anderson finished with a double as well a home run. Selmon doubled and Jaxon Murray tripled.

Wheeling defeated Morgantown Post 2 in Martinsburg last year for the state championship, and now will have the opportunity to raise the gold once again.

“We’re pretty confident,” Castilow said. “Baseball’s a funny game though, anything can happen on any given day. We’re rolling in there with a ton of confidence but we know that at any point things can change. We feel pretty strong about our pitching and our hitting. Having confidence in each other, having a veteran crew, we feel pretty strongly about what we can do and we’re excited for it.”

Wheeling Post 1 5, Parkersburg Post 15 2

Jack Selmon, Jake Brown and Braxton Billick all doubled for Post 1 in their victorious first outing of Thursday’s doubleheader.

Brown finished with two RBI, a game-high.

Seth Cover pitched four innings to get the win for Post 1, striking out a pair. Henry Anderson pitched a clean sheet the rest of the way.

Carter McClain and Eli Davis each had RBI for Post 15, which finished second in area tourney and thus will join Wheeling at state next week.