MORGANTOWN – There was little doubt that Noah Braham was going to play football in college.
After all, he looks the part standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 235 pounds. He produced at a high level on the gridiron for the University High School football team for the last four years. That earned him a scholarship to play football at West Virginia University.
But occasionally, it’s fun to think about what if Braham decided to make baseball his featured sport.
Tuesday might have been a glimpse into that alternate reality as Braham slugged three doubles, hit a home run, and drove in four runs to help power UHS to a 15-4 win over visiting North Marion. As a matter of fact, Braham’s home run ended the mercy-rule-shortened game.
“He is one of the strongest hitters I have ever seen at the high school level,” UHS head coach Brad Comport said of his senior first baseman. “I honestly think he could have had a future in baseball if he wanted it. I also coached him in football and he’s just a superior athlete all around.”
Braham admitted that the thought of playing college baseball has crossed his mind before. Especially when he was younger.
“I think things might have turned out roughly the same,” Braham said. “I worked my tail off to play football at the collegiate level. I mean, I have put in years of work and If I dedicated that to baseball, I’d expect the same result.”
The results have been impressive this year as Braham is hitting .455 with six homers, nine doubles and two triples.
There’s also more good news for UHS as the rest of the Hawks’ lineup is starting to click since Comport made some changes.
“We went back and looked at some trends,” Comport said of the lineup changes. “We tried to put together a lineup that was clicking a little bit more and that can produce some more runs. I really think that it’s been effective so far.”
One of the big changes was moving junior centerfielder Wenkai Campbell from the leadoff spot to the No. 4 spot in the order. That has given Braham some much-needed protection in the No. 3 spot and allowed Campbell to find his power stroke.
Campbell finished Tuesday’s game with a 3-for-3 performance with a home run and six RBI.
“I really like to be aggressive,” Campbell said. “I usually like to swing at a first pitch. Just being able to have a different mindset at this spot in the order has been helpful.”
While Braham and Campbell combined for 10 RBI in the contest, the Hawks (10-8) also smacked 13 hits to pick up their fourth-straight victory.
Brodee Latocha, a junior, moved to the leadoff spot in the order and went 3-for-3 with four runs scored while Gabe Templeton, Cody Thomas, and Gabe Jansen each had one hit.
Jansen picked up the victory on the mound as he lasted two and two-thirds innings and struck out four. Daniel Grabo and Jett Walters combined to finish the final innings off without allowing a run.
The Hawks return to action today when they travel to Bridgeport for a 4:30 p.m. contest.
By ERIC HERTER
University 15, North Marion 4
NM 112 000 – 4 7 2
UHS 431 142 – 15 13 1
NORTH MARION – Kincell 3 0 1 0, Martin 4 0 1 1, Malnick 4 1 1 1, Adams 3 0 1 0, LeMasters 2 1 1 0, Hess 2 0 0 0, Weekley 1 0 0 0, Parrish 3 1 1 0, Craig 1 1 0 0, Owens 1 0 1 2. Totals: 24 4 7 4.
UHS – Latocha 3 4 3, Thomas 4 2 1 0, Braham 4 4 4 4, Campbell 3 2 3 6, Templeton 3 1 1 0, Croston 0 2 0 0, Croyle 1 0 0 0, Jansen 1 0 1 0, Grabo 1 0 0 0, Furbee 3 0 0 0, Harman 1 0 0 0, Edwards 2 0 0 0, Walters 2 0 0 0. Totals: 28 15 13 10.
2B – NM: Owens. UHS: Braham 3
HR – UHS: Braham, Campbell
WP – Jansen 2.2ip, 5h, 4r, 4er, 4bb, 4k
LP – Hess 2ip, 8h, 7r, 5er, 4bb, 0k
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