MARTINSBURG — The 2024 West Virginia American Legion State Baseball Tournament came to a conclusion Monday afternoon with Morgantown Post 2 battling Wheeling Post 1 for the state title and a berth in the Mid-Atlantic Regional as the W.Va. state champion.
Entering the day undefeated in state tournament play, Post 2 (32-7) required only one win over Wheeling before dropping two games in order to capture the state title.
Despite leading 5-0 early in game one, Post 2 gave up seven unanswered runs to Post 1 and the 7-5 result forced a decisive final game. The men from Wheeling carried their momentum into game two and rallied late to defeat Morgantown 8-2 and win the W.Va. American Legion State Championship.
“Credit to Wheeling, they’re a good team and today, they played better than we did,” Post 2 head coach Andy Altemus said. “It’s as simple as that. There were mistakes on both sides and they capitalized more on ours. We knew they were a little low on pitching coming into today, and they flat-out competed. They showed up on a mission (Monday) and completed the mission. We had opportunities in both games and didn’t take advantage.”
Morgantown jumped out to an early 5-0 advantage in game one. Max Cash singled home the opening score of the day in the bottom of the second. Four more runs came for Post 2 in the bottom of the third on three wild pitches that got past the Post 1 catcher, and a bases-loaded walk drawn by Gabe Templeton.
Morgantown starter Mason Chaney didn’t give up a hit until the top of the fifth when an RBI double by Quinn Jamison broke the ice for Post 1.
Chaney got out of the inning but not before giving up another run, giving Wheeling a glimmer of hope in forcing a second game.
After a quick 1-2-3 inning by Morgantown at the plate in the bottom of the fifth, Wheeling got back to work in the top of the sixth. An infield error and a double saw runners on second and third with no outs.
Braxton Billick brought a run home with a sacrifice fly that was followed by a fielder’s choice as Wheeling cut the deficit to one run 5-4. Preston Cole then delivered a double and tied the game at five-all after six innings of Game 1.
Wheeling led the seventh inning off with two singles and moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt. Morgantown then intentionally walked Dillon Wilson to load the bases, making way for Billick to come through again with another huge hit for Post 1, scoring two runs and giving his team a 7-5 lead they would see through to the end of the game, forcing a decisive second game.
Game two saw Morgantown take an early lead once again, as Wenkai Campbell singled home a pair of runs in the top of the third to open the scoring.
That would be the only runs for Post 2 in the final contest however, and Wheeling answered quickly in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at two runs each when Alex Taylor, the tournament MVP, brought home a pair with a single to left field that bounced over the head of Campbell and rolled to the wall.
Each team went scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings, and Morgantown came up empty in the top of the sixth going down 1-2-3.
Two straight hit batters opened the bottom of the sixth for Wheeling, giving way for Billick to lay down a bunt with two runners on base and no outs. Post 2 first baseman Caleb Cottle fielded the bunt and overthrew third base, allowing two runs to score. A wild throw at home then allowed Billick to advance to third, and finally home after a third wild throw in the same play. Billick bunted and went all the way around to score, giving his team a 5-2 lead.
“It’s a long week, a long day, we really haven’t made too many mistakes this week and they all seemed to pile on at once,” Altemus said. “That isn’t the only one reason we lost, of course, we didn’t take our opportunities when we needed to and it just wasn’t our day.”
Wheeling wasn’t done as Cole singled home another run and Taylor drove in two more with a single to center, making the score 8-2 in favor of Post 1. They would hold on to capture the W.Va American Legion State Baseball Championship and advance to play in the Mid-Atlantic Regional tournament.
Post 2 ends its summer with a 32-7 record.
“These guys are old and have been with me forever, they’re almost like my kids,” Altemus said. “I know the type of people they are outside of baseball and the wins and losses are one thing, but if they can truly take away a positive experience from playing with this team, that’s what I’m happy about. These guys truly are brothers and sometimes you don’t realize it until a moment like we just had after a tough day, tough result. I’m proud of the way these guys work and compete.”
BOX SCORES
GAME 1
Wheeling 7, Morgantown 5
WHLN 000 023 2 – 7 7 0
MRGN 014 000 0 – 5 6 1
Wheeling Post 1 – Marsh 1000 Taylor 3111 Murray 4110 Skadra 3100 Wilson 3110 Billick 3013 Billings 3101 Jamison 4221 Cole 1011
2B: Wilson, Cole, Jamison
Morgantown Post 2 – Riley 4010 Campbell 3110 Thomas 4110 Montague 2100 Cottle 3100 Travinski 1100 Walters 4010 Cash 3021 Templeton 1001
2B: Thomas
WP: Anderson 4.2ip 2h 0r 3bb 5k
LP: Wolfe 1.1ip 3h 2r 1bb 0k
GAME 2
Wheeling 8, Morgantown 2
MRGN 002 000 0 – 2 2 5
WHLN 002 006 X – 8 5 0
Morgantown Post 2 – Riley 2100 Campbell 3012 Thomas 3000 Montague 2000 Cottle 3000 Travinski 3000 Walters 2000 Cash 3010 Templeton 2100
Wheeling Post 1 – Marsh 1100 Taylor 4022 Murray 4000 Skadra 2100 Wilson 3100 Billick 3110 Billings 3100 Jamison 1210 Cole 2111
WP: Wilson 6.0ip 2h 2r 1bb 1k
LP: Messerly 5.1ip 5h 8r 4bb 1k
