As of press time, high school springs sports events and practices had been postponed until April 10. That announcement came as the finishing touches were being put on the Spring Sports preview. We have decided publish these previews in order to highlight Hardy County’s high school athletes, should no opportunity exist later.
Moorefield Baseball knows the work that has to be done in order to reach the pinnacle of success and having the right mental focus with determination and teamwork will lift the Yellow Jackets to a third consecutive state championship this season.
The Yellow Jackets have nine returning members of last season’s state championship game line-up and 20 overall coming back to bolster a talented team quest to hold the trophy in Charleston for a three-peat as the development of a winning culture paves the way.
Moorefield skipper Wade Armentrout enters his 21st season at the helm with a career record of 379 – 187 and has incorporated two mottos for the team’s journey towards another opportunity for a title.
The mottos for the Yellow Jackets are “Do Your Job (#DYJ)” and “Mentality Intentional Culture Execution (#MICE)”.
Armentrout was named the National Federation Coaches Association West Virginia State Coach of the Year and Potomac Valley Conference Coach of the Year last season during the state championship run.
“Continue to improve and be playing to our highest potential at the end of the season,” Coach Armentrout noted about the goals for the season.
Each player must understand their individual roles on the team and the execution of those roles will strengthen each aspect of the team working together to achieve greatness.
The Yellow Jackets finished last year’s state championship slate with a record of 27-11.
The culture of winning within the program that currently exists provides great motivation for the players to continue to strive to be better and remain on the top of the mountain making each action count with the proper techniques and ability to complete each task on the way to victories.
The entire season is in flux as half of the competitions have been cleared off the schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this hinders preparation process on the field, but the mindsets of the players must remain vigilant in keeping an eye on the final prize as hopes to return to action in mid-April hangs in the balance.
The Yellow Jackets have a stellar group of players gearing up to return to Charleston who are willing to work hard to fill the roles left behind by graduated seniors Blake Watts (pitcher/first base) and Derek Hoyt (closer/outfielder) who both were on the mound in the state championship last year and pitch runner/outfielder Caden Kimble.
Returning players from the state championship line-up are: Brent Moran, Isaac Van Meter, Hayden Baldwin, John Lahmeyer, Matthew Jenkins, Lane Ours, Jayden Moore, Thomas Williams and Mason Ours.[private]
Moorefield junior ace and Mount St. Mary’s University verbal commit Isaac Van Meter went undefeated last season with an 8-0 record and 0.363 ERA along with 73 strikeouts in addition to a .325 batting average with 26 RBIs.
Van Meter earned Class A All-State First Team honors and the Potomac Valley Conference Player of the Year selection playing as a pitcher and shortstop including an amazing shutout in the state semifinals.
Moorefield junior third baseman and pitcher Hayden Baldwin brings power to the plate having a .438 batting average with 38 RBIs and 30 runs scored plus a 2.935 ERA on the mound which helped him earn Class A All-State Second Team and All-PVC Team honors.
Van Meter coming off a state championship in wrestling to add to the accolades has shown that his athleticism and flexibility enables him to stretch and dive for the ball to make the plays in the field or to wind up for a fiery fastball and can run fast after smashing the ball too.
Moorefield senior second baseman and pitcher Brent Moran has a batting average of .327 and was selected to the Class A All-State Special Honorable Mention Team and All-PVC Team.
Moran is willing to dive in the dirt to go after a ground ball.
Moorefield senior catcher Lane Ours was dynamic behind the plate making big plays in the state tournament and was named to the Class A All-State Special Honorable Mention Team.
Moorefield junior center fielder and pitcher Matthew Jenkins was a consistent hitter with great speed tracking down fly balls and made the Class A All-State Special Honorable Mention Team.
Moorefield junior pinch runner and catcher John Lahmeyer is known for his speed on the base path, but has quite an arm behind the plate as well.
Moorefield junior outfielder and pitcher Jayden Moore has been a force from right field last season throwing the ball deep back to the catcher for outs and makes solid pitching outings.
Moorefield senior second baseman and outfielder Thomas Williams has the quickness to survey the field in the dirt or grass and was very consistent at the plate getting on base with the lead-off role most of the time.
Moorefield senior first baseman Mason Ours hustled for the ball including one play diving off first base last year and leaping back stretching the glove out for the out plus coming through at the plate hitting the ball in crucial points of the game.
These players always had a smile on their faces throughout the season and kept positive attitudes even during a loss being cheerful when cleaning up the field after the games.
Another interesting fact is that each game their uniforms were spotless, so that secret cleaning agent was another ingredient to sharp looking success.
The Yellow Jackets are very enthusiastic supporting one another shouting from the dugout and greeting players coming to home plate.
Pitching in summer leagues honing their skills on the mound to help round out the pitching staff are sophomores Bryce Hines (INF/P), Karson Reed (OF/P) and Garrett Strickler (INF/P) with each one returning from last year’s team looking forward to making more of an impact.
Moorefield juniors Kennan Mongold (OF), Jacob Frederick (INF) and Jaydon See (OF) each played last season and showed great talent which will be utilized more this year.
Moorefield junior Vincent Cyrus is a newcomer on the squad and has been working hard developing skills in the outfield.
The Yellow Jackets have a strong depth in the dugout with sophomores Branson See (INF), Coleman Mongold (OF), Blake Funk (OF) and Gavin Wolfe (INF) showing their quickness and knowledge of the game to take on bigger roles this year.
There are no freshmen listed on the roster for the Yellow Jackets.
Coach Armentrout’s assistant coaches are Scott Stutler and Ritchie Baldwin.
Moorefield was expected to return to Morgantown to play at West Virginia University in the first week of the season, but the Coronavirus nixed that opportunity.
If play can resume after April 10, the first games would be at Bridgeport against North Marion and Bridgeport on April 11, then the home opener against Tygarts Valley on April 14 before visiting Pendleton County on April 15.
The Yellow Jackets added a new out-of-state team to the schedule playing Virginia powerhouse Turner Ashby on the road on April 17.
Moorefield hosts the Wildcats on April 22.
The Yellow Jackets faced Notre Dame the past two seasons in the Class A Region II Championship and will travel to Clarksburg for a doubleheader rematch on April 24.
Moorefield greets Class AA Petersburg on April 28 and Class AAA Hedgesville on April 29 for the home finale.
The Yellow Jackets are scheduled to visit East Hardy on May 1, then finish the year on the road against Petersburg, Hampshire and Tucker County concluding on May 7 if the overall schedule isn’t changed, but could be depending on when play resumes.
Moorefield has the talent and skill to return to Charleston and now it is a waiting game to find out when the journey will commence.
Coach Armentrout took time to answer some questions for the season preview.
How does winning back-to-back state titles affect the attitude and mental strength of the players?
Returning players know it is difficult to achieve.
Will having the state championship experience provide more motivation and confidence for your season?
Every team establishes their own identity.
Are there specific life lessons you would like your players to know to become better citizens on/off the field through the game of baseball?
Teamwork, discipline, perseverance, goal-setting, handling success and failure.
How do you keep practices informative and engaging for the minds of your players?
Challenge the players to always do 1% better than yesterday.
How patient does a batter need to be at the plate and should each one swing at the first pitch every time?
We want our players to be aggressive.
Do you expect a pitcher to set the tone for a game and is it better for a pitcher to get first-pitch strikes mentally?
We want to limit the number of pitches and minimize walks.
How important is teamwork on the field such as relaying the ball from the outfield?
We practice game situations everyday that require players to make successful team plays.
Do you have any new opponents this year?
Turner Ashby, North Marion, Bridgeport, Preston County.
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