Charleston – Wahama head coach Billy Zuspan had some interesting words for his team a day before playing three-time defending Class A state champion Moorefield.
Zuspan told his team that it gets the privilege and responsibility of having a say in whether there will be a new state champion in single-A.
The White Falcons took the challenge to heart.
Scoring one run in the fifth inning and an insurance run in the sixth, Wahama knocked off the Yellow Jackets 4-2 Friday to advance to the state championship game against Charleston Catholic Saturday at 10 a.m.
“This says a lot about our team. There is going to be a new state champion in class-A and it was nice to get the win against a class program like Moorefield,” Zuspan said. “We have a team that persevered and showed a lot of grit throughout the season and that is what got us the win today, that grit.”
Aaron Henry brought the Wahama faithful to their feet quickly when he hit a two-run homer over the right field fence in the bottom of the first inning.
However, after four innings, the game stood even at 2-2 thanks to run scoring singles from Alexander Miller and Karson Reed for Moorefield.
While his team was struggling to score, Wahama pitcher Zack Fields was keeping his team in the game battling through some tough innings.
“We had a lot of confidence in (Zack) going into this game. He is a great pitcher and he was dealing. There was a little adversity in the middle of the game, but he fought through it,” Zuspan said. “Baseball is that way. There are high and lows, but we endured it. We got ahead early with a big shot by Aaron, but we knew there was a lot of baseball after that.”
The White Falcons took the lead for good in their final two plate appearances.
“Trey Ohlinger had a big hit there and we were able to capitalize on a miscue on a ground ball that (Ethyn) Barnitz hit. I also liked that insurance run there at the end too,” Zuspan said.
After dethroning the defending champions, Zuspan talked about his team’s focus for the championship game.
“One thing about this team is that it plays loose. I guarantee you tomorrow we will be taking (batting practice) and they will be laughing and joking with each other,” Zuspan said. “This team loves to play baseball. They have played a lot of years together. They would rather be here than any other place in the world and they are having a blast.”
