Charleston – First year Charleston Catholic head coach Will Bobinger said all along that even though he had a young team, his players believed they could win the Class A state baseball championship.
Saturday afternoon, his team proved him right.
After beating No. 1 seed Williamstown Friday morning, Charleston Catholic stunned No. 2 Wahama, 6-5 in the championship thriller.
“I think I said yesterday that our only shot to win the game was to have a 12-10 game. It wasn’t quite 12-10, but it was a higher scoring ball game. This worked out perfect,” Bobinger said. “The whole time, from batting practice this morning until that last out, they were confident they were going to win it. You have to give them credit.”
For five-and-a half innings, the Irish made the needed plays and the timely hits to build a 4-2 advantage.
All four runs for the Irish had scored with two outs. Two runs scored on a double from Jeff Reynolds, while two more runs scored on singles from Hayden Carringer and Josef Brammer.
Both Wahama runs came from on a single from Tyler Ohlinger in the third inning.
The White Falcons turned the tide when they put together a rally in the bottom of the sixth and stormed back to take their first lead of the contest.
Ethyn Barnitz doubled home the first run before a walk and a single loaded the bases. When Aaron Henry was hit by a pitch and Ohlinger lifted a sacrifice fly to right, Wahama was up 5-4.
Excitement built for the Wahama fans when Henry retired the first two Catholic hitters to open the seventh, but had to be lifted for a relief pitcher due to reaching the 110 pitch count limit.
Gannon Morris kept the Irish hopes alive with a single and Reynolds enhanced the comeback dream with another base hit.
The dream started to become a reality after Carringer’s second hit of the game pushed the tying run across and Catholic loaded the bases when Tyler Brown was hit by a pitch.
With the game on the line, Bobinger went a little unorthodox when he signaled for a bunt.
Brammer’s bunt attempt popped up between the pitcher and the catcher who both made diving attempts at the ball. The ensuing collision jarred the ball loose from the catcher’s glove allowing Reynolds to score the eventual winning run.
“We work on the bunt constantly. Their third baseman was playing back and the kid on the mound was a little young,” Bobinger said. “We thought we had an opportunity there to put the pressure on the defense. That is our trademark. Luckily he got just enough of it. An inch or two, one way or another, it’s (an out).”
Zach Fields doubled with two outs and moved to third on a wild pitch to put Wahama 90 feet from tying the game, but it wasn’t meant to be for the White Falcons.
A ground ball to Jonah DiCocco was gobbled up and relayed to first for the final in a magical run to the championship for the Irish.
Junior Gannon Morris picked up the win on the hill to get a bit of redemption after a tough regular season outing against Wahama.
“I got absolutely shelled. There is no other way to put it,” Gannon said about the first meeting. “I am just a really gritty type of pitcher. I only had one strikeout today. I just try to make them put the ball in play. I don’t throw very hard, so I just had to do my job and trust my teammates. I didn’t have my best stuff either. My out pitch wasn’t there. I just had to battle. That is what I have done all season.”
The Class A All-tournament team included Michael Ferrell, Gannon Morris, Jeff Reynolds and Jonah DiCocco from Catholic, Trey Ohlinger, Logan Roach, Zach Fields and Aaron Henry from Wahama, as well as, Alex Miller from Moorefield and Parker Schramm from Williamstown.
