State tourney begins for Post 15
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PARKERSBURG – The Parkersburg Post 15 baseball program of manager Mike Goodwin will carry a 17-9 record into the West Virginia American Legion state tournament that gets underway on Thursday in Beckley at Linda K. Epling Stadium.
Parkersburg finished runner-up in the Area 1 tournament to two-time defending state champion Wheeling Post 1, which will take on Potomac Valley Post 64 at 1 p.m. following the tournament opener at 10 a.m. featuring Post 15 and Berkeley Post 14.
“We faced Berkeley in the first round last year and we played them tough. We lost to them, but we played them tough,” admitted Goodwin, whose squad is making its third straight trip to state.
“My only experience with Berkeley is in the state tournament and we lost to them 7-5 last year. We don’t have the offensive horsepower that we had last year.”
Parkersburg nearly forced a winner-take-all game three against Wheeling in the Area 1 tournament.
“It was a 3-2 ballgame. It could’ve gone either way,” admitted Goodwin, who said the plan is to start Wyatt Boice on Thursday.
“Seth Menarchek pitched a great game, a lot of good offspeed stuff and location. He gave us a chance pitching-wise. We just could not scratch across enough runs.”
Parkersburg doesn’t have a home run this season and also had to deal with the loss of Evan Swain, who had scheduled surgery this summer.
“Big loss,” Goodwin said of having Swain for a limited time. “We’ve had other kids really come through. Cam Cumpston from Roane has done a really good job.
“Cooper Cancade from PHS has done a great job. We’ve had other kids step up and assume a lot of the production for us, so I’m hoping we can continue that at the state tournament.”
CJ McCartney, who Goodwin said was a “super competitor, solid as a rock” and had “a great attitude” continues to set the table for Post 15 while playing shortstop.
McCartney, who is batting .371, leads the team in doubles (10), runs scored (31) and stolen bases (25) while his 25 runs-batted-in only trails Cumpston by one.
“How CJ goes we go,” Goodwin added.
Thursday’s projected lineup is expected to have catcher Easton Miller batting second with Cumpston hitting third and handling the hot corner. Cancade will be at cleanup and occupies second base.
Miller sports a .337 average with 24 RBIs, Cumpston is hitting .347 and Cancade has knocked in 18 with a .325 average.
Eli Davis, who has a .375 average with 15 RBIs, is expected to start in center field and bat fifth.
Boice, who is 4-0 with 35 strikeouts in 38 1-3 innings while sporting a 0.91 ERA, has knocked in 18 runs and carries a team-high .385 average.
Peyton West, who has 18 RBIs, hits seventh and mans first base. He’s followed by left fielder Cooper Anderson and Menarchek in right.
“We didn’t play as many games because the high school season ate into our summer,” Goodwin added. “We finished well over .500 and we won the games that we needed to win. We beat Ritchie three times and Marietta three out of four times. We beat the local teams and we’ve played well against the tougher teams.
“We’ve had a respectable year, but honestly it all comes down to how Wyatt pitches Thursday and if we can scratch out a few runs against the pitcher for Berkeley. If Wyatt does his thing that he normally does then we have a good chance of winning.”
The other two opening round matchups on Thursday feature Bridgeport Post 68 taking on South Charleston Post 94 at 4 p.m. with host Beckley Post 32 squaring off at 7 p.m. versus Morgantown Post 2.
“That first game is obviously important because you don’t want to get in that loser’s bracket, but if you do you just battle away,” admitted Goodwin, who stressed “this is the most resilient team I’ve ever had.
“I would say we’ve had six or seven come from behind victories. These guys don’t panic at all. They don’t get uptight or nervous about anything. That’s why I think they are probably the most resilient bunch we’ve ever had.”
Post 15 will join the other state tournament programs tonight for the annual banquet.
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com