By Rich Stevens
MaxPreps.com
The George Washington High School baseball team hasn’t finished with a record above .500 since 1997.
In fact, the Patriots sunk to 1-23 in 2004, which led to the departure of Glenn Wilson as coach.
Four seasons later, coach Chad Campbell points to senior leadership as the reason for the Patriots’ success in 2008 – they own a 17-5 record.
George Washington has managed, during a recently-snapped 12-game winning streak, to win three games in its final at-bat.
Its most-recent late-inning success came on a three-run homer by Ryan Chaney in the final inning for an 8-7 victory over Wyoming East.
“I think they put it in cruise control a little bit, but we won and that’s the main thing,” Campbell said. “I think that’s one thing they’ve learned to do, is come back and win.
“They’ve grown and learned how to win … I think. I hope.”
Ironically, its last loss before the streak was to Martinsburg on a grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning to wipe out a 1-0 lead.
The Patriots are averaging 8.5 runs per game and giving up five. While the number of runs surrendered seems high, much of the problem isn’t attributed to the pitching. The GW defense has been suspect, finishing with 22 errors in its last six games, which includes only one errorless contest.
The positive note has been the pitching, which has a junior as its ace (Tyler Wilson) and a freshman left-hander (Derek May) who has made himself at home in the rotation.
In May’s most-recent start, he walked the first two batters before pitching five complete innings in an 11-1 victory over arch-rival South Charleston.
SOUTH
The weather hasn’t been good to the PikeView softball team – which has played only nine games – but it hasn’t stopped junior Brittany Quick from swinging a hot bat.
Quick is batting near .700 one season after hitting .637 as a sophomore. She has struck out only once in the last two years.
Quick plays several positions, but is the team’s primary shortstop. She has a fielding percentage above .900.
- Chapmanville Regional High has had plenty of baseball success over the years, including this season. The Tigers are 15-6 and coming off a 16-5 victory over Paintsville, Ky.
However, Chapmanville visits Sissonville on Wednesday night. The Tigers have had limited success against Kanawha Valley teams, against whom they are 4-4.
The Tigers’ leader is catcher Hunter Podunavac, who was 2-for-3 with a homer, double and an RBI against Paintsville.
EAST
Defending champion and nine-time Class AAA titlist Jefferson continued to roll, recording a 10-0 victory over state rival Elkins at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, N.Y.
The Cougars (18-2) – who have not lost to an in-state opponent – used 26 players in the rout.
- The Class AAA Hedgesville softball team had 37 hits in two games to sweep Class A Moorefield.
NORTH
The Wheeling Park High softball team handed Cambridge, Ohio, its first loss of the season with a 6-0 victory.
Ironically, the pitcher holding down the Bobcats bats was Mary Hohman, who played travel softball in the summer with many of the Cambridge players.
Hohman had seven strikeouts in the one-hitter against her summer teammates.
- The Parkersburg High baseball team got a shot in the arm, getting over the .500 mark with a 5-4 victory over Huntington at Parkersburg’s City Park.
The eight-inning victory came by virtue of a single with nobody out by sophomore Jason Phillips.
Parkersburg trailed 4-1 through three innings.
TRACK
Sissonville senior weight man Eric Myers has passed 1996 Olympian Randy Barnes.
Myers had a throw of 183 feet, 5 inches in the discus at Winfield on Friday night – the best throw ever in West Virginia.
The best had been by Barnes, a former St. Albans star who won the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics. Barnes, who holds the state meet record of 181-7, had the state’s top mark at 182-5.
Several other state athletes have turned in outstanding times and distances.
Hurricane’s Terrell Martin has the state’s best time in the 100-meter dash at 10.97 and is the only Mountain State track athlete to run the 100 in sub-11.0 according to runwv.com.
Moorefield senior Justin Robinson has the best time among Class A boys with an 11.34.
Chris Martin, a running back on Wheeling Central’s Class A state championship football team, has the state’s best time among single-A competitors in the 110-meter high hurdles with a 15.34.
Dustin Peters, who quarterbacked the Martinsburg football team the last two years, has an effort of 152-11 in the discus.
The Williamstown girls track team is strong again in the field events, with eight athletes among the top seven in their respective events.
They are freshman Megan Roberts (fifth in long jump – 143/4), senior Kaitlyn Nichols (sixth in long jump – 141/2), senior Autumn Chidester (third in shot put – 32-1), junior Ali Flowers (sixth in shot put – 30-10; and second in discus – 97-3), freshman Shila Allman (fifth in discus – 94-9), senior Courtney Gabbert (seventh in discus -- 88-7), senior Kate Billups (first in pole vault – 9-6) and sophomore Madison Postlewaite (second in pole vault – 9-0).
Rich Stevens, a sportswriter for the Charleston Daily Mail, covers West Virginia for MaxPreps.com
