Class A Moorefield Baseball skipper Wade Armentrout earned his 350th career victory as the Yellow Jackets rallied from a 4-nil deficit to defeat Class AA Frankfort 6-5 in a state tournament tune-up game at George Hott Field on Memorial Day.
“That’s a credit to the players. It takes a lot of effort on their part and support from parents and assistant coaches, those are the guys that make all that happen,” Moorefield Coach Wade Armentrout remarked.
“I didn’t remember it, but coach said the 300th win was against Frankfort also and I think the 200th win as well, so every time we’re on the nines, I’m going to schedule them. Coach [Matt] Miller is a great guy. I really appreciate him reaching out to us to play. I wish them a lot of luck, they have a fantastic program and a great opportunity to make it to the state tournament. It’s nice that we can represent this area. It’s a great privilege and honor to make that, because both of us have to play really good teams in the region. You earn the right to get there. It’s not an easy path. We are hoping for two more wins, then we can celebrate.”
This is the third milestone victory coming against the Falcons during Coach Armentrout’s career: 200, 300 and 350.
There was no celebration shower for this milestone victory and Coach Armentrout was fine with that not happening again before the state tournament.
Coach Armentrout improved his career record to 350-176 in his 19th season at the helm, but remains focused in the hopes of adding two more wins in Charleston this weekend.
No. 4 Class A Moorefield and No. 4 Class AA Frankfort needed a game to prepare for the state baseball tournament in Charleston, so the teams joined forces to work on their pitching, batting and defense.
“It means a lot for us to keep playing. You don’t want a big layoff this time of year. You want to see live pitching and have real game situations,” Coach Armentrout commented.
“You can only do so much of that in practice, so it was great for us to have this opportunity. I thought we had some good at-bats and our swings were good. We weren’t very productive in the first inning, stranding a couple baserunners and that’s the difference in winning close ball games and beating good teams. You might not get a lot of hits, but you’ve got to have timely hits and have productive at-bats. We did that in one inning and that happened to be enough.”
The Yellow Jackets (21-9) will face top-seed Charleston Catholic (25-11) in the first round of the Class A state tournament on Friday at 5:00 p.m. and the Falcons (23-6) will meet Wayne (25-4) in the Class AA session on Friday around 12:45 p.m.
Moorefield pitcher Blake Watts had his fourth pitch hit by Frankfort leadoff batter Zack Whitacre sending a line drive to shortstop Isaac Van Meter for the catch.
The Falcons got a baserunner as Caleb Hare took a full-count pitch into the left field gap for a single, then a fly ball by Foster Conis was called and caught by Moorefield centerfielder Jake Ours and Watts struck out Blake Wasson after a stolen base to end the side.
Frankfort starting pitcher and Kent State University-commit Blake Wasson had his second pitch taken by Moorefield leadoff batter Brent Moran into right field where the ball was caught by Brendan Whiteman.
Wasson issued a walk to Moorefield’s Grant Keller before notching a full-count strikeout on Blake Watts.
Jake Ours singled into center field and Hayden Baldwin drew a free pass to load the bases for the Yellow Jackets, but Wasson fielded a grounder by Isaac Van Meter to deny a run.
In the top of the second inning, Frankfort’s Wyatt Yates grounded out to Watts on the mound with the throw to first baseman Matt Mongold.
Whiteman rocketed a shot which appeared to be going into left field, but Moorefield shortstop Isaac Van Meter stopped its momentum at the edge of the grass causing it to ricochet to side by a yard giving Whiteman enough time to reach base.
An attempted pickoff went awry as the ball slipped by Mongold and Whiteman advanced to second base.
Frankfort’s Blake Rhodes hit into a groundout collected by Van Meter to Mongold for this second out.
Nick Corwell zipped the ball past the reach of Mongold, but Moorefield second baseman Brent Moran made a diving save and threw from his knees to Watts covering first base as the Falcons stranded one.
Moorefield’s Lane Ours grounded out to Frankfort shortstop Zack Whitacre, then Garett Haggerty hit a line drive out to first baseman Blake Rhodes before Mongold drew a walk and was stranded on a groundout by Moran to Rhodes.
A majority of the scoring for the game was in the third inning as Frankfort went up 4-0, then the Yellow Jackets answered with five runs for the lead.
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It was a cloudy day as Frankfort leadoff batter Devin Lynch wore sunglasses drawing teasing from his teammates in the dugout, but he managed to take a full-count walk to start out the third inning so those must have been a lucky charm.
Whitacre singled into left field, then Hare executed a bunt single with Mongold dashing in on the play with Watts scooping up the ball and had nobody to throw to at first base as the Falcons loaded the bases.
Conis flew out to Haggerty in left field and the incoming throw went past catcher Lane Ours, but it was close enough to prevent a run from trying to come home.
Wasson connected for an RBI single into left field to give Frankfort a 1-nil edge.
After a pop-up by Yates was caught by Van Meter, Whiteman was hit by a pitch sending another run home.
Rhodes garnered a two-run producing single into right field to put the Falcons ahead 4-0 and Corwell grounded out to end the side.
“Absolutely. We got to see good pitching. Our pitchers got some work in, but they were a little rusty and that’s okay. It’s better to get it out now, than get it out on Friday,” Frankfort Coach Matt Miller stated.
“I was very happy about playing this game. It’s great to represent our community and the area. We’ve got two quality programs that are going to represent the area. Coach Armentrout got his 300th win at Frankfort and now got his 350th win against Frankfort. I am going to stop playing him when he has whatever nine. If it’s 99 or 49, I’m not playing him anymore (laughing). It is great to represent the area and couldn’t ask for a better way to go with these two teams.”
Conis stepped to the mound for the Falcons and induced a groundout by Moorefield’s Grant Keller to second baseman Caleb Hare.
Watts sliced a grounder to Frankfort third baseman Wyatt Yates, who bobbled and juggled the ball with a late throw to first base and Yellow Jackets runner Caden Kimble came aboard.
A routine grounder was missed by Yates off the bat of Jake Ours putting runners on first and second.
Baldwin flew out into right field, then Van Meter was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Moorefield.
Lane Ours ripped a two-RBI single into the right center field gap to cut the deficit in half at 4-2 and Logan Wolfe came in as a runner.
Haggerty punched an RBI single into left field to make it a 4-3 game as the Yellow Jackets dugout was buzzing with excitement.
Mongold reached base on an error by Hare as Moorefield’s momentum continued and Jayden Moore came in as a runner.
Moran knocked a two-run producing single into left center field for a 5-4 lead change for the Yellow Jackets.
Keller flew out as the inning came to a close with runners aboard, but Moorefield had the lead.
Haggerty came in as a relief pitcher for the Yellow Jackets in the top of the fourth inning and put Frankfort down in order sandwiching two groundouts with Van Meter fielded both times around a strikeout to Whitacre.
Frankfort pitcher Zack Whitacre issued a full-count walk to Watts to begin the bottom of the fourth inning, then Jake Ours made a sacrifice bunt.
Baldwin received a walk, then a throw by Corwell to second base wasn’t in time as Watts dove back to the base.
Van Meter singled into right field to load the bases for the Yellow Jackets, but nothing transpired as Whitacre fanned Lane Ours on a full-count with the bat thrown down thinking it was a walk and Haggerty went down swinging.
Haggerty walked Conis in the top of the fifth inning, but the Falcons failed to bring him home as Wasson grounded out to Watts after a stolen base, Yates struck out and Whiteman grounded out back to Haggerty.
Moorefield’s Thomas Williams was given a free pass, then made a start toward second base as Moran connected for a single into right field placing runners on the corners.
Whitacre spun around on the mound sending the runners back to the bases, then Keller grounded out.
Watts hit an RBI sacrifice fly into right field and Williams dashed to home plate after tagging up, sliding in just before the tag attempt by Frankfort catcher Nick Corwell in which the ball dropped out of the glove as the Yellow Jackets extended the lead to 6-4 and a strikeout ended the inning.
Van Meter was brought to the mound and Moran moved to shortstop as Thomas Williams moved from right field to second base and Derek Hoyt went to right field.
Van Meter collected a grounder by Frankfort’s Chandler Rhodes and jogged toward first base making an underhanded toss to Watts for the out.
Corwell connected for a single just past the diving attempt of Moran, but was stranded on a flyout by Brady Whitacre to center fielder Jake Ours and Zack Whitacre grounded out to Van Meter.
Hare came in to pitch for the Falcons in the bottom of the sixth inning and Moorefield went down in order as Baldwin grounded out to shortstop Zack Whitacre, Van Meter struck out and Ben O’Neill grounded out to Whitacre.
Moorefield closer Derek Hoyt fielded a grounder by Hare for the first out, then Conis reached base on an error as Baldwin knocked the hard hit down and didn’t recover in time.
Hoyt hurled a strikeout to Wasson for the second out, then Yates notched an RBI single sailing into right center field to cut the deficit to 6-5.
Hoyt finished the game latching the door with a strikeout to Whiteman for the 6-5 victory which was the 350th career win for Coach Armentrout.
Class A Moorefield and Class AA Frankfort will represent the eastern panhandle along with Class AAA Martinsburg at the state baseball tournament this week held at Appalachian Power Park, the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Class A minor league farm team the West Virginia Power.
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