CHARLESTON – It’s a well-known prep baseball axiom that says you have to have two good pitchers two win a state championship.
It’s a proven fact, yet in a rare occurrence, none of the pitchers on the Class AA all-state team, released Wednesday by the West Virginia Sports Writer’s Association, were members of the four teams that qualified for the tournament.
In fact at least one pitcher from a state tournament qualifier has been named to the first team all-state team since at least 2000.
Members of the four-man first team pitching staff are Sissonville’s Collin Cottrell (5-2 record, 0.76 earned run average, with 80 strikeouts in 55 innings pitched), Cole Peschl (4-4 with two no hitters, a save, a 0.14 ERA 117 strikeouts), Point Pleasant’s Kyelar Morrow (5-2, 1.62 ERA, 64 strikeouts in 47.2 innings) and Bluefield’s Carson Deeb (7-1, 1.22 ERA 67 strikeouts in 46 innings).
Still, state champion Logan, runner-up North Marion and semifinalists Herbert Hoover and Independence are well represented on the squad.
Logan, which won its seventh baseball championship and its first since 2008, has Cardinal Conference player of the year Dawson Maynard, one of just two sophomores on the first team, named as a utility player, along with junior outfielder Korbin Bostic.
From runner North Marion is do-it-all senior utility ace Jace Rinehart.
Independence, which spent a majority of the season at No. 1 in Class AA and was top seed in the state tournament, places three players on the first team in utility player Caleb Basham, outfielder Atticus Goodson and infielder Michael McKinney.
Herbert Hoover is represented by Infielder Matthew Toops.
Logan’s Maynard captains the first team after his first high school season saw him finished the season hitting .402 for the state champions with 12 doubles, three triples, a home run and 28 RBIs and he was 5-1 on the mound with a 1.10 ERA and 55 strikeouts.
Bostic is a junior and the only returning starter from Logan’s 2019 team and coach Kevin Gertz said he served many roles for the Wildcats.
“In the weight room he’s a big leader for us,” Gertz said. “He and Dawson Maynard both led these kids. He’s out leadoff hitter and one heck of an outfielder. He sets the table for us. He’s been great at the plate, great in the outfield and I’m glad I’ll get to coach him again.”
At Independence, center fielder Atticus Goodson and shortstop Michael McKinney were table-setters themselves for sophomore Caleb Basham who finished the year hitting .564 with 54 RBIs, both school records.
Like Logan’s Maynard, Basham did not have the benefit of a freshman year. At preseason practices coach Scott Cuthbert knew Basham was on the cusp of a big season and inserted him into the cleanup spot in the lineup.
“Early in the season we knew we had a good one on our hands,” Independence coach Scott Cuthbert said. “A lot of kids struggle right out of the gates with their first experience of high school baseball and he just continued to keep improving. Clay works real hard at it. He’s had an awesome year.”
Basham also had 46 hits, 11 doubles, two triples, a home runny he scored 37 runs. He also struck out just seven times, three looking. On the mound Basham had a 5-1 record with a 2.33 ERA and 47 strikeouts.
Goodson and McKinney spent the season getting on base for Basham to drive in, combining for 89 runs and stealing 32 bases.
“Athletically they are two of the most gifted players we’ve had,” Cuthbert said. “When they get on base they are a big threat, the way they run, and they’ve been a big catalyst for us (at the top of the order). They really push the envelope being able to run the bases real well.”
McKinney, a junior who has committed to North Carolina State, hit .430 with eight doubles, a triple and a team-best five home runs. He also drove in 35 runs, scored 41 and stole 13 bases.
Goodson, a junior, also was an all-state football player who has an offer to play football and baseball at Marshall. He hit .405 with four doubles, a triple, four home runs, 19 RBI and 48 runs scored with 19 steals.
North Marion senior Jace Rinehart, a utility pick, had a postseason to remember, going 4-0 on the mound as the Huskies advanced to the state championship. He gave up just four runs, two in a 7–2 victory over Independence in the state tournament semifinals. He hit .506 on the season with 41 RBI and 18 doubles. He will play college baseball at South Carolina Upstate.
“Jace is a super player doing whatever he had to do for the team and coaches,” North Marion coach Vic Seccuro said. “He was a serious player, every practice and every game especially. But he was always helping and supporting his teammates.”
Herbert Hoover’s Toops helped the Huskies make the tournament field hitting .396 with 40 hits, two of them home runs.
Other infielders include hard-hitting senior Xavier Lopez of Robert C. Byrd, the Big 10 player of the year, who hit .548 with 10 home runs and 52 RBI, senior Brayden Arcuri of Lincoln, who hit .535 with four titles, 28 RBI and 28 stolen bases and Nick Hamrick of Philip Barbour.
The first team catchers are Shady Spring’s Parker Redden and Point Pleasant’s Joel Beattie.
Redden, who signed last month to play baseball at the University of Delaware, is spending the summer playing baseball with the Burlington Sock Puppets of the Appalachian League, a league normally reserved for players with at least a year of college experience.
Redden hit .373 with nine doubles, a triple, a home run, 39 RBI and he walked 24 times for the Tigers. He also threw out 18 would-be base stealers.
“You always knew each game that you had nothing to worry about behind the plate because Parker was back there,” coach Jordan Meadows said. “It made my pitching coach’s job easy calling games because Parker was back there and the pitchers knew they could count on him. Great work ethic with great character got him to where he is. He will be missed, that’s for sure.”
Point’s Beattie hit .487 with six home runs and he stole 24 bases.
Joining Goodson and Bostic in the outfield is Oak Glen’s senior multi-sport standout Hunter Patterson, who hit .485 with six triples, one home run, 18 RBI, 23 stolen bases).
The other utility spot goes to Winfield senior Peyton Stover who hit .404with two home runs, with 22 RBI and 31 stolen bases.
The captain of the second team all-state team is senior catcher Brady Whitacre of Frankfort.
Second-team all-state pitchers include Logan senior Tyler Fenwick, Scott senior Alex Epling, Lewis County senior Will Hunt and Weir junior Tyler Kelley.
Infielder’s are Bluefield senior Hunter Harmon, Nicholas County senior Rylee Nicholas, Shady Spring senior Alex Johnston, Robert C. Byrd sophomore Nick George and Sissonville junior Dylan Griffith.
Outfielder’s Wayne sophomore Levi Cassidy, Bluefield senior Brandon Wiley and Lincoln junior Jeremiah Carpenter.
The utility spots are manned by Wayne senior Cameron Cade, Scott sophomore Griffin Miller, Westside senior Spencer Kenney and Philip Barbour senior Alex Wilson.
The other catcher is Herbert Hoover senior Nick Grayam.
Class AA
First team
P — Collin Cottrell, Sissonville, Jr.
P — Cole Peschl, East Fairmont, Sr.
P — Kyler Morrow, Point Pleasant, Sr.
P — Carson Deeb, Bluefield, Sr.
C — Parker Redden, Shady Spring, Sr.
C — Joel Beattie, Point Pleasant, Sr.
IF — Michael McKinney, Independence, Jr.
IF — Matthew Toops, Herbert Hoover, Sr.
IF — Xavier Lopez, Robert C. Byrd, Sr.
IF — Brayden Arcuri, Lincoln, Jr.
IF — Nick Hamrick, Philip Barbour, Sr.
OF — Atticus Goodson, Independence, Jr.
OF — Korbin Bostic, Logan, Jr.
OF — Hunter Patterson, Oak Glen, Sr.
UTIL — Clay Basham, Independence, So.
UTIL — Dawson Maynard, Logan, So. (captain)
UTIL — Jace Rinehart, North Marion, Sr.
UTIL — Peyton Stover, Winfield, Sr.
Second team
P — Tyler Fenwick, Logan, Sr.
P — Alex Epling, Scott, Sr.
P — Will Hunt, Lewis County, Sr.
P — Tyler Kelley, Weir, Jr.
C — Brady Whitacre, Frankfort, Sr. (captain)
C — Nick Grayam, Herbert Hoover, Sr.
IF — Hunter Harmon, Bluefield, Sr.
IF — Dylan Griffith, Sissonville, Sr.
IF — Nick George, Robert C. Byrd, So.
IF — Rylee Nicholas, Nicholas County, Sr.
IF — Alex Johnston, Shady Spring, Jr.
OF — Levi Cassidy, Wayne, So.
OF — Brandon Wiley, Bluefield, Sr.
OF – Jeremiah Carpenter, Lincoln, Jr.
UTIL — Cameron Cade, Wayne, Sr.
UTIL — Griffin Miller, Scott, So.
UTIL — Spencer Kenney, WestSide, Sr.
UTIL — Alex Wilson, Philip Barbour, Sr.
Honorable mention
Noah Broadwater, Keyser; Carson Brown, Independence; Kerry Collins, Bluefield; Tanner Cook, Robert C. Byrd; Cody Cooper, Philip Barbour; Elijah Farrington, Independence; Coby Gorby, Lincoln; Dylan Grant, Scott; Gage Harman, Robert C. Byrd; Clay Hershberger, East Fairmont; Matthew Hutson, Liberty Harrison; Chase Jackson, Wayne; Will Kirkendall, Chapmanville; Andy Lester, Independence; Grant Lowther, Robert C. Byrd; Andrew Lynch, Frankfort; Griffin Miller, Scott; Thatcher Poteat, Shady Spring; Brayden Queen, Wayne; Jake Ramey, Logan; Bryson Redmond, Bluefield; Brandon Simpson, Wyoming East; Carson Stotler, Berkeley Springs; Kobey Taylor-Williams, PikeView; Andrew Westfall, Frankfort; Garrett Williamson, Logan; David Young, Shady Spring; Konner Lowe, Logan; Darrick Broadwater, Keyser;
