MORGANTOWN — For the first time in a long time, the Trinity Christian baseball team is in the winner’s bracket of its sectional tournament.
The Warriors (12-10) defeated cross-county foe Clay-Battelle 5-1 Monday evening in the first game of the Class A Region II, Section 2 tournament.
“We peaked today, it finally came together,” Trinity coach Wes Hopkins said. “This is the team that we are, it just took us a while to come out and the first game of the sectional playoff, what a time to peak.”
Junior pitcher Will McPherson went the distance in the victory, throwing a complete game on 108 pitchers, striking out eight and allowing just one run.
“He dealt,” Hopkins said. “He pounded the strike zone (Monday), pitched very efficiently and got great defense and run support, things that we’ve struggled with all year long.”
Offensively, Trinity scored two runs in the first inning and added on two more in the third and another in the fourth.
Freshman Ryan Parker led the club with two doubles and two RBI. Parker Hopkins also drove in a run, as did senior Will Hancox, who doubled.
“We kind of pride ourselves on being a hitting ballclub,” Coach Hopkins said. “We feel that we can hit with most teams. It’s just getting our defense to back them up.”
The Cee-Bees started right-hander Kohlton St. Clair, who gave up five runs in four innings while striking out seven. Drew Mercer had two hits and drove in the team’s lone run.
Trinity will play at South Harrison today while Clay-Battelle will face an elimination game on Wednesday.
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