CHARLESTONÂ ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Even though it only lasted 73 minutes, everyone at Appalachian Power Park on Saturday evening knew they had seen something special after Hurricane's 1-0 win over Hedgesville in the Class AAA semifinals.
Hurricane's Jonathan Blackwell and Hedgesville's Chase DeLauter engaged in one of the better pitcher's duels to be seen at the state tournament in quite some time as the Redskins advanced to the Class AAA championship against St. Albans.
Blackwell arguably threw the best game of his career, striking out nine and allowing just two hits, none after the second inning, en route to a complete-game performance that took just 75 pitches.
Not to be outdone, DeLauter showed what he's capable of as well, striking out eight Redskins while allowing just two hits, both in the fifth inning. Each guy issued one walk.
Following the game, both Hurricane's Brian Sutphin and Hedgesville's Eric Grove marveled at the performance of both players whom are headed to the next level. Blackwell is signed with Coastal Carolina while DeLauter is headed to James Madison.
"I mean, 73 minutes and you play all the innings, that's hard to duplicate," Grove said. "That's a couple of studs and that's why they are getting recruited to go where they go. I'm proud of mine, and I certainly was in awe of theirs. I haven't seen him much because we aren't anywhere around here, but still, it was an honor to watch him play and pitch."
"(DeLauter) is not the (2018) State Player of the Year for no reason," Sutphin said. "Certainly, he gave us all we wanted. It was just two teams scrapping and clawing to get a run across. Fortunately for us, we found a way there."
Sometimes, strategy for teams is to pitch their No. 2 in hopes of having their ace for the championship game. However, Grove and Sutphin each knew that their aces had to face off in order to advance.
The result was a pitching performance that will be spoken of for years.
DeLauter had impressive command and excellent movement on his fastball while Blackwell topped out at 91 on the radar and was hitting spots well before dropping a nasty curve that kept the Hedgesville batters off balance.
Grove said that despite the loss, he couldn't be happier with DeLauter's performance or that the entire state got to see what all the hype is about from the reigning state player of the year.
"We felt that Hurricane might be the best team we play," Grove said. "And it'd be cheating the state of West Virginia for the people who don't get to see him if he didn't pitch up here.
"Hopefully, the state of West Virginia gets behind him even though he's going to a different state. He's going to have a bright future and so is the Blackwell kid. It'll be fun to watch them."
CARR CRUISING: St. Albans pitcher Jake Carr enjoys pitching at Appalachian Power Park.
Carr, who has seen success during his career at the venue, had another strong outing on Saturday. Carr allowed just three hits and one run in 6 2/3 innings while striking out 11 in a 4-1 win over Wheeling Park. Carr did work around six walks in the contest before giving way to Connor Fizer in the seventh.
GRAD FALCONS: Prior to Saturday's Class AA Championship game between Frankfort and Bridgeport, six members of Frankfort's graduating class received their diplomas on the field at Appalachian Power Park.
Graduation ceremonies at Frankfort High School took place at 4 p.m. on Saturday and with the lengthy drive, those graduates would not have made it back in time for the title game, which started at 7:30 p.m.
ARMENTROUT HONORED: Moorefield's Wade Armentrout was named the West Virginia Baseball Coach of the Year by the National Federation of Athletic Coaches.
Armentrout was presented the award at home plate prior to Saturday's 10-0 win over Huntington St. Joe.
OFFICIAL RECOGNIZED: James Altobello, the home plate umpire in Saturday's Class A semifinal between Huntington St. Joe and Moorefield, was named the Official of the Year for West Virginia by the National Federation of Athletic Officials.
Altobello, the brother of former Marshall offensive lineman Matt Altobello, was presented a certificate commemorating the honor prior to the contest.
Grant Traylor can be reached by Email at gtraylor@herald-dispatch.com or by phone at 304-526-2759. Follow him on Twitter, as well (@GrantTraylor). Reporter Tim Stephens also contributed to this notebook.
