Published: May 09, 2008 10:41 pm            

Knights end sectional drought

WELCH — It was a long, twisting route to the sectional baseball championship, much like the road between Bluefield and Welch.

But for the first time in six years, the Mount View Golden Knights grasped the Class AA, Region III, Section 4 trophy Friday evening after beating the Bluefield Beavers 6-2 at Nick Shaffron Field.

Senior pitcher Brandon Clemins threw six-plus shutout innings for the Knights, while Cedrick Thomas drove in two key runs and leadoff batter C.J. Wiseman scored twice.

Wiseman walked to lead off the bottom of the second and scored on Thomas’ sacrifice fly to center. The early 1-0 lead “was huge,” Thomas said. “Anything for the team, man.”

For Clemins, it was his longest pitching outing of the season, and the most rewarding.

He said, “This year I didn’t have a win. ... It felt really good to have a win in the sectionals. To be able to win the sectionals, it feels great.”

Mount View coach Nick Shaffron said, “We wanted him to go as far as he could, and he did it for us tonight. He pitched a good ballgame.”

Clemins’ teammates gave him a 3-0 lead in the second, as three out of four batters swung at first pitches and got singles. Michael Edwards and Ryan Rhodes provided the RBI swings.

Shaffron said, “I just told them to cut down on the ball, because we’d been popping the ball up. We just need to hit line drives and make them field it. And hit the ball hard. They did a decent job.”

The lead grew to 5-0 in the fifth when Thomas drove a hard single through the hole near shortstop to bring Wiseman home again, and Clemins followed with a double that brought Tyler Morsi across the plate.

Thomas said, “We just kept our heads down, rode our wrists and put the bat on the ball — and got key hits.”

Clemins pitched economically early and his fielders made the necessary plays — though Mount View ended the game with five errors.

He began to struggle in the seventh. With men on first and second and one out, he pitched a ball to Chase Joyner, stumbled off the mound and went to the infield turf with a cramp in his calm muscle.

Clemins said, “I just started getting tired (but) I never doubted myself. I just let my defense come into the game more, and let them do the work, and we just came together like a team.”

He admitted he wanted to finish the final inning on the mound, but was willing to turn the job over to his reliever, Jeremy Hayes. “I wanted the win more than I wanted the complete game,” Clemins said.

Matt Keczan, who had gotten on base by an error, scored the Beavers’ first run when the catcher dropped the ball on a good throw to the plate by outfielder Rhodes. The final run, by pinch hitter Ian Godfrey, scored when Warren Furrow drew a bases-loaded walk.

The potential tying run was batting when Clemins, who had gone to play third base, made a forceout at the bag.

Clemins said of Hayes’ effort, “I know it was hard, but he did really good.”

Shaffron said, “Bluefield didn’t quit, though. They kept fighting.” He said the sectional went to the last game “like last year and the year before that. It’s a good rivalry, and very competitive.”

He said of the Golden Knights, “They’re a great bunch of kids. They play well together. They deserve it. It’s been a long time coming. I’m going to let them enjoy it — and then we have Wyoming East (in the regionals).”

Bluefield coach Justin Gilbert noted the Beavers played five games in five consecutive days. “The kids were a little tired, but they were ready to play. They were focused. They knew what was at task here; they knew what it meant.”

“But give credit to Mount View, and give credit to the pitcher, Mr. Clemins. He hit his spots all night, he kept us a little off-balance. ... They came ready to play today.”

Gilbert said, “We had a late rally, and the ball didn’t bounce our ways sometimes.”

Nick Williams pitched the whole game for Bluefield, after two previous pitching stints in the sectionals.

Gilbert said, “Nick wanted the ball, and that’s what a baseball player (does). He wants the ball. He wanted to stay out there and throw strikes. All you can ask is for a kid to give you the opportunity to win, and he did that tonight.”

Gilbert was asked about his first season as the Beavers’ coach. He said, “With all the success of Bluefield High School in all the other sports, we wanted to establish something here in baseball.

“We took a few losses earlier in the year, and we kept stressing to the kids that you can’t drop your heads. You’ve got to keep working. And the kids did that. ... I compliment them. We worked hard, we came up a little bit short. That happens.”

Next up for the Golden Knights is the two-game regional tourney. On Monday, May 19, on their home field, Mount View will face fellow sectional winner Wyoming East. The regional championship is set for May 21 in Bluefield.

No contests are scheduled for next week due to state-mandated testing in the public schools.

The state tournament for Class AA runs May 30-31 at Appalachian Power Park in Charleston.

— Contact Tom Bone at

tbone@bdtonline.com



At Nick Shaffron Field

Bluefield (10-13)...........000 000 2 — 2 6 1

Mount View (11-14)......120 020 x — 5 6 5

Nick Williams and Jake Lilly. Brandon Clemins, Jeremy Hayes (7) and Cedrick Thomas. WP-Clemins. LP-Williams. Sv-Hayes. HR-none.

        

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