It's an unusual position for George Washington High: Nine seniors will miss commencement tonight, and will don their caps and gowns on a baseball diamond in Raleigh County.
It's an unusual position for George Washington High: Nine seniors will miss commencement tonight, and will don their caps and gowns on a baseball diamond in Raleigh County.
They will do so, in no small part, because of the efforts of a freshman.
The Patriots, playing their first regional game in 11 years, put the ball in the left hand of pitcher Derek May, and he delivered in a 5-0 victory over Capital. May threw a two-hitter, struck out nine and seemed to get stronger as the game wore on.
George Washington’s Brian Aluise (left) takes his lead off second base as Capital’s Eric Stone tries to keep him close.
The ninth-grader allowed just two runners to reach third base in improving to 7-1. GW (26-8) advances to the Class AAA Region 3 final at Woodrow Wilson High in Beckley, where the Patriots play Greenbrier East at 6:30 p.m. today.
"We didn't know who we were going to throw until [Tuesday] night," said GW coach Chad Campbell. "We were debating on who we were going to throw - our senior, we've got a junior pitcher, or Derek. [May] told me in practice he wanted the ball, so that's who we went to."
May survived a mild jam in the opening inning, yielding a walk, a wild pitch and a grounder to the box that was officially scored an error. But he struck out cleanup hitter David Pack and forced Josh Burka to pop up, and when he returned to the mound the Patriots were ahead 1-0.
The lead came courtesy of Mark Jones' solo home run in the top of the second, an arcing bomb off the scoreboard in left field. That started a stretch of four straight innings in which the Patriots scored at least one run.
That took the pressure off May, who twice retired nine out of 10 batters.
"Once we got runs, I was feeling a lot less jittery, a lot more comfortable," he said. "It helped me pitch a lot better."
Only Eric Stone solved May after the first, getting two late hits - and his fifth-inning double was nearly robbed by sliding center fielder Glenn Colby, who has just signed to play at Potomac State. Stone moved to third on a grounder but was stranded.
May has good velocity for a freshman, but he was particularly pleased with his curve ball. Four of his strikeouts required a throw or tag by catcher Ben Huffman, as May got the Cougars to chase curves in the dirt.
"He's going to be a really good pitcher," Campbell said. "Him getting this experience right now in games like this, it's going to continue to benefit us, and him, down the road."
It's an unusual position for George Washington High: Nine seniors will miss commencement tonight, and will don their caps and gowns on a baseball diamond in Raleigh County.
They will do so, in no small part, because of the efforts of a freshman.
The Patriots, playing their first regional game in 11 years, put the ball in the left hand of pitcher Derek May, and he delivered in a 5-0 victory over Capital. May threw a two-hitter, struck out nine and seemed to get stronger as the game wore on.
The ninth-grader allowed just two runners to reach third base in improving to 7-1. GW (26-8) advances to the Class AAA Region 3 final at Woodrow Wilson High in Beckley, where the Patriots play Greenbrier East at 6:30 p.m. today.
"We didn't know who we were going to throw until [Tuesday] night," said GW coach Chad Campbell. "We were debating on who we were going to throw - our senior, we've got a junior pitcher, or Derek. [May] told me in practice he wanted the ball, so that's who we went to."
May survived a mild jam in the opening inning, yielding a walk, a wild pitch and a grounder to the box that was officially scored an error. But he struck out cleanup hitter David Pack and forced Josh Burka to pop up, and when he returned to the mound the Patriots were ahead 1-0.
The lead came courtesy of Mark Jones' solo home run in the top of the second, an arcing bomb off the scoreboard in left field. That started a stretch of four straight innings in which the Patriots scored at least one run.
That took the pressure off May, who twice retired nine out of 10 batters.
"Once we got runs, I was feeling a lot less jittery, a lot more comfortable," he said. "It helped me pitch a lot better."
Only Eric Stone solved May after the first, getting two late hits - and his fifth-inning double was nearly robbed by sliding center fielder Glenn Colby, who has just signed to play at Potomac State. Stone moved to third on a grounder but was stranded.
May has good velocity for a freshman, but he was particularly pleased with his curve ball. Four of his strikeouts required a throw or tag by catcher Ben Huffman, as May got the Cougars to chase curves in the dirt.
"He's going to be a really good pitcher," Campbell said. "Him getting this experience right now in games like this, it's going to continue to benefit us, and him, down the road."
The Patriots' plate production worried Campbell, but it was plenty enough on this evening. They had eight hits, walked three times and had three batters hit by Capital starter Burka, who also went the distance.
GW stranded nine runners, but Jones' second-inning homer, his ninth of the season, stood up as the game-winner.
"I was just trying to be patient, work the pitcher, and I got a fastball I could handle," Jones said.
"I wish some guys would have been on base when that happened," Campbell said. "And I thought that maybe would get us going, and it really didn't. [But] that was big, it got us the lead with Derek pitching."
Huffman doubled in the third, knocking in Tyler Wilson, who went 3-for-4. Casey Lester had an RBI single in the fourth, and another run scored a throwing error. Jones had another RBI in the fifth on a groundout.
Campbell scored his third victory of the season over Capital and their coach, Robert Massey. The two were teammates on state-tournament teams at South Charleston in the late 1990s.
While Campbell has raised GW from the diamond doldrums, Massey may have had a tougher assignment this season. The Cougars finished 12-22, which reflects some long, difficult stretches. At one point, the Cougars lost nine in a row, and were getting beaten badly.
"We went with a semi-youth movement," Massey said. "We got a sophomore center fielder, two ninth-graders at shortstop and a freshman over at second base also. And we have four juniors in the lineup. We only lose four guys. Everyone who pitches for us is back next year.
"Winning a sectional, you've definitely got to take that as a building block for our program."
In a little bit of bad luck caused by a rainout Tuesday, the four seniors missed Capital's commencement Wednesday. In a pregame ceremony, Pack, Jeremy Smolder, Mark Radow and Drew Zegeer donned blue caps and gowns and received their recognition.
To contact staff writer Doug Smock, use e-mail or call 348-5130.
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