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Dominion Post
3 days ago
- Sport
- Dominion Post
Morgantown baseball set to battle George Washington in state tournament semifinals
CHARLESTON – For the second consecutive season, the Morgantown High School baseball team earned a spot in the state tournament as the Region I champions and will meet MSAC champion George Washington on Friday night at Go-Mart Ballpark in Charleston in the semifinals of the WVSSAC Class AAAA baseball tournament. The Mohigans, also winners of a conference title as the OVAC 5A champions, return to the state tournament for a second consecutive year after sweeping Region I postseason play. Morgantown went 4-0 in the playoffs, defeating its rival, University, and Wheeling Park in back-to-back series. The Mohigans (ranked No. 4 in the latest MetroNews Coaches Poll) have won 13 of their last 15 games. Offensively, WVU signee Weston Mazey leads the team with 33 runs scored. Mason Bowers paces the lineup with a .395 batting average and a team-best 40 hits. Vinnie Aloi leads Morgantown with 31 RBI, while freshman Jackson Bredeson follows closely with 29 RBI and a team-leading eight doubles. On the mound, Maddox Boggs (9-2, 1.35 ERA) and Vinnie Aloi (7-2, 2.22 ERA) have combined for 16 wins. Judd Messerly, a Potomac State signee, has posted a 1.34 ERA in 10 appearances and has three saves. 'Last year, there was a huge sense of excitement with it being the first time in a while that our program has been there,' MHS head coach Pat Sherald said. 'This year, there's the same excitement, but there's also a lot of purpose as far as taking care of business. We got a taste of it last year. We are going to go out and play as hard as we can and play our brand of baseball.' George Washington returns to Charleston following a runner-up finish in 2024 and enters the tournament as the Region III champions. The Patriots posted a 4-0 mark in the postseason with wins over South Charleston and St. Albans. WVU commit Slade Barton tossed a no-hitter in the 4-0 regional title victory over the Red Dragons. After a 3-4 start to the season, GW found its rhythm, winning 12 of its next 13 games. The Patriots are 4-2 this season against fellow state tournament qualifiers, including two victories over top-seeded Hurricane. In the Mountain State Athletic Conference title game, Chuck Kelly delivered an inside-the-park, walk-off home run in the seventh inning to secure a second win over the Redskins. 'George Washington has four very talented pitchers, but that's what you expect this time of year,' Sherald said. 'We know we will see the best from everyone, but it's all about what we can control and what we do out there. We must follow our game plan and maintain a no-nonsense approach. We will seek opportunities to capitalize on and position ourselves for success. We just plan to go out and play quality Mohigan baseball.' First pitch is scheduled to be thrown 50 minutes after the conclusion of the first Class AAAA semifinal between Hurricane and Hedgesville, which is set for 5:00 p.m.
Dominion Post
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Dominion Post
Morgantown set to battle Wheeling Park in Region I baseball championship series
MORGANTOWN – The Morgantown High School baseball team will meet Wheeling Park in the Class AAAA Region I championship series this week, with the winner earning the right to represent Region I next weekend in the 2025 WVSSAC state baseball tournament in Charleston. The two sides have met three times this season, with Wheeling Park taking two of the three contests. The Patriots won both regular-season matchups by one run before MHS took the OVAC 5A title game 4-2. Wheeling Park will host Game 1 on Tuesday. Game 2 will move to Dale Miller Field at Mylan Park in Morgantown with a decisive Game 3 heading back to Wheeling, if needed. 'We've been working on fundamentals and making sure we are ready to do what we do best,' MHS head coach Pat Sherald said. 'In this series, you're going to see two talented baseball teams go head-to-head and battle. We had three close games against them already this season. They're a well-coached club who pitch well and are strong defensively. But I like our team as well and I think we're going into the week prepared and focused on the task at hand.' In the three games the two sides played this season, the Patriots had success at the plate, earning more hits than MHS in all three contests. Particularly, the bottom half of the Wheeling Park lineup. 'They can hurt you all through their lineup,' Sherald said. 'They had a few guys have some very strong games against us and we've been able to see some tendencies. But for us we just need to worry about controlling what we can control and putting the blinders on to achieve our goal.' One thing that may benefit the Mohigans this week is their pitching rotation of Vinnie Aloi, Maddox Boggs, and Lucas Shinn. The trio has combined for a record of 15-3 this season and each have an ERA under three runs while throwing more than 35 innings. Aloi and Boggs have each thrown 30 strikeouts as well. Closer Judd Messerly has three saves in as many attempts this season. 'I think that benefits us in a best-of-three,' Sherald said. 'I really like where those three are right now and hopefully they continue throwing strong and throwing strikes. We got some good innings for them against Bridgeport and Fairmont Senior this week in preparation and we will be ready to go come Tuesday evening.' Morgantown and Wheeling Park begin the Region I championship series Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. in Wheeling. Game 2 will be at 5:30 p.m. in Morgantown on Wednesday.
Dominion Post
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Dominion Post
MHS takes down Steubenville to reach OVAC finals, UHS upset by Parkersburg South
WHEELING — The Morgantown High softball team will have the chance to defend their OVAC 5A championship after a 9-3 upset victory over top-seeded Steubenville on Wednesday. Meanwhile, defending state champion University High suffered a loss in the semifinal, 5-1, against Parkersburg South. MHS will battle the Patriots at 5 p.m. Friday for the championship. The Hawks only managed four hits to go along with as many errors against Parkersburg South. Patriots starting pitcher Anniston Shelton threw seven innings and struck out 13 batters without surrendering a walk. Seven Parkersburg South batters earned a hit in the contest. UHS starter Maddie Campbell also went the length of the game, allowing nine hits and five runs (two earned), with only one walk and 10 strikeouts. Liz Alsop was the prime suspect in Morgantown's productive night on offense, tallying six RBI and walloping two home runs and a double to do it. On the mound, Maddie Wisman pitched a complete outing for the Mohigans, striking out seven. Kira Smith also drove a home run, a solo shot in the fourth inning. Alsop's three-run blast broke open what had been a scoreless game with one out in the third inning. Morgantown scored five more in the fourth inning thanks to Alsop and Smith. 'Bats came alive tonight, pitching was great by Maddie Wisman,' Morgantown head coach Lorri Lipscomb said. 'Even though we had some defensive miscues, they picked each other up and came back strong. That's the key.' 'They're better than us,' Steubenville head coach Gus DiMarzio said. 'They pitched better than us, they fielded better than us, they hit better than us.' Each team tacked on one run apiece in the final frame, a sac fly from Steubenville's Riley Zorne serving to cut into the Mohigans lead, but Morgantown would retire the following batter to advance to the 5A final, at the JB Chambers Sports Complex. 'We're excited we're back to defend the OVAC championship, we want to make it two in a row.' Sophia Zorne and Riley Zorne each finished with an RBI for Steubenville. Morgantown won last year's OVAC championship 4-3 against John Marshall. The Mohigans entered that game as the four-seed in the tournament bracket as well. — Story By Nick Henthorn
Dominion Post
22-04-2025
- Sport
- Dominion Post
Morgantown advances to OVAC baseball 5A title game with 5-1 victory over Brooke
MORGANTOWN – The Morgantown baseball team will play for the OVAC 5A baseball championship after defeating Brooke 5-1 on a windy Monday evening at Dale Miller Field. MHS (13-8) scored its five runs on eight hits, with Mason Bowers and Bean Nipper each tallying a pair. Starting pitcher Vinnie Aloi tossed a complete game with six hits allowed, only one earned run, and eight strikeouts. He threw four innings without allowing a base runner and struck out the side twice in the contest. Aloi also added a two-run single in the fifth inning to help cushion the lead for himself on the mound. 'We always tell the guys if there's an opportunity to go out and play for a championship we're going to be all in of it,' MHS head coach Pat Sherald said. 'Our guys have been really good at staying focused and showing up every day with great energy and effort, and being mature. They're a really fun group to coach who don't need much motivation to go out and play hard.' Aloi got the evening started for MHS by striking out the side in the top of the first inning, and his offense showed support in the bottom half with three runs on three hits. Mason Bowers doubled to left field after leading off the inning with an out. He came around to score as Jackson Bredeson followed with a triple. Aloi drew a walk to put runners on the corners and after the second out, Carson Velickoff singled to score two more runs and give the Mohigans a 3-0 lead after the first inning. The Bruins earned their first hit to lead off the second, but Weston Mazey and Kai Henkins turned a double play, and Aloi earned another strike out, sending MHS back to the plate. Bean Nipper singled to open the bottom of the second for MHS, but three straight outs ended the inning without the lead changing. In the third inning, neither team scored a base runner, as Aloi and Murdock each worked a frame of consecutive outs against three batters. Brooke's offense found some life in the top of the fourth with three two-out hits, yielding the first run for the visitors to cut the MHS lead to 3-1. The Mohigans went down three batters again in the bottom of the fourth inning, but Aloi answered to force Brooke to do the same to open the fifth. 'It seems like he is getting better and better every outing,' Sherald said of his starting pitcher. 'He didn't allow a walk today, and it seemed like he had more batters swinging and missing than any other start this season. Vinnie has a ton of maturity, and he doesn't get rattled easily at all. It's been nice to see his development throughout this season and watch him get progressively stronger.' Aloi helped his cause in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out double that drove in a pair of runs and swelled the MHS lead to 5-1 after five innings. He followed that up by striking out the side in the top of the sixth to keep his club ahead by four runs, needing three outs to end the game. Aloi and the Mohigans did just that as the Bruins sat down in consecutive batters to end the contest. MHS will advance to Saturday's OVAC 5A baseball championship game in Edison, Ohio against the winner of the second semifinal between Wheeling Park and Parkersburg South, which will be played on Tuesday evening. 'Both of those teams have gotten us at least once this year, so obviously, they're great opponents and competition,' Sherald said. 'We just need to go out and play Mohigan baseball and hope we can be on the winning end.' BOX SCORE Morgantown 5, Brooke 1 BHS 000 100 0 – 1 6 0 MHS 300 020 X – 5 8 0 Brooke (12-8) – Murdock 3010 O'Mery 3000 Moore 3000 Anderson 3000 A. Provenzano 3020 G. Provenzano 3010 T. Sperringer 3021 McMahon 3000 Beatty 2000 Morgantown (13-8) – Mazey 3000 Bowers 3220 Bredeson 3111 Aloi 2012 Joseph 3000 Velickoff 3012 Henkins 3010 Boggs 3000 Nipper 2120 2B: Bowers 3B: Bredeson (W) Aloi: 7.0ip 6h 1r 0bb 8k (L) Murdock: 6.0ip 8h 5r 1bb 2k
