CHARLESTON — Hurricane had a prime opportunity to score in the first inning of Sunday’s Class AAA title game against St. Albans.
After Red Dragons’ starting pitcher Ayden Hodges wiggled his way out of a jam with two runners in scoring position and one out, the tone for the contest had been set.
Hodges took care of matters from there and threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings of one-hit ball, keying St. Albans to a 5-0 victory at Appalachian Power Park.
“He had a little struggle there in the first inning, but he really settled down and found his groove. We knew he had that in him,” St. Albans coach Rick Whitman said. “He’s got No. 1 (pitcher) stuff. He hasn’t been in this environment before, so that was a concern. But after he got out of that first inning without giving up a run, he was lights out.”
The victory gives the Red Dragons (34-4) their second championship in three seasons, with both victories in the title game coming against the Redskins.
Although St. Albans loaded the bases with no outs in the home half of the first, the Red Dragons came up empty after Joel Gardner struck out Noah Cummings and induced an inning-ending double play to second off the bat of Nick Loftis.
Both teams went quietly in the second inning and Hodges retired Hurricane (33-6) in order in the third. When Hodges came back out to pitch the fourth, he did so with a 2-0 lead after Jake Carr tripled to right to score Drew Whitman and Connor Fizer drove in Carr with a groundout to short.
“It boosted my confidence to a whole other level,” Hodges said of pitching with a lead. “I told my guys I need one run. They gave me two and that’s when I was like, ‘It’s on.’”
The Redskins put a pair of runners on in the fourth, including Gardner who singled for their only hit. But Hodges got Cole Bumgarner to groundout to short to end the inning, and then retired Hurricane in order in the fifth, an inning in which he struck out a pair.
“It really wasn’t so much nerves as much as it was an adrenaline rush,” Hodges said of the first-inning jam. “My adrenaline was up and I was thinking I’m going to put the ball right in there, which I really didn’t. Once I settled down and hit my spots, the outcome turned out good.”
The Red Dragons put together a two-out rally in the fifth to add to their lead. Kemplin got it started with a single, before Carr drew a base-on-balls. Fizer then singled to right to plate Kemplin for a 3-0 lead.
Saint Albans tacked on two more runs in the sixth, getting an RBI double from Ridge Lester and a run-scoring bunt single from Travis Atkins to make it a five-run game.
“We knew we were going to have to scratch and claw and run the bases and play a little small ball,” Whitman said. “I thought we pretty much capitalized on all of our opportunities.
“We wiggled out of a few jams early on and that gave Ayden a lot of confidence. He’s a lot like Jake. Once we get the lead with him on the mound, our guys think that’s enough. Fortunately, today it was.”
Hodges retired Bumgarner and Brenden Lewis to start the seventh and narrowly missed going the distance after issuing a two-out walk to Matt Vance. He had to be removed at that point due to a pitch count of 112, but Fizer got Tyler Cox to pop out to second for the final out.
“We really battled. You have to get something going and hit a line drive at some point and we didn’t do that,” Hurricane coach Brian Sutphin said. “They did and that’s why we didn’t get it done.”
Hodges struck out seven and walked five, giving Whitman everything he could have hoped for and more.
The Red Dragons allowed one run in two state tournament games, while the Redskins scored just one run in a pair of games at Power Park.
“It’s hard to lose when you don’t give up a run,” Whitman said. “We came in here and wanted to go 2-0 and we did that. I’m elated for the community, the school and especially these kids.”
Carr and Darin Flowers each had two hits in the win, while Fizer drove in a pair of runs.
Gardner took the loss after allowing three runs in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked three. Cox came on in relief and allowed two runs on four hits in 2/3 of an inning.
St. Albans finished with a 9-1 advantage in hits and beat Hurricane for the third time in as many tries this season.
It was a storybook ending for the Red Dragons, who suffered a 1-0 loss to Wheeling Park in a semifinal last year.
“When we walked out of here last year, we didn’t like that feeling,” Whitman said. “These guys knew they were better than that and they kept working. They believed in themselves and believed in each other.”
