CHARLESTON, W.Va. — It was a tremendous turnout for fans of high school baseball teams that qualified for the West Virginia High School State Baseball Tournament.
Four teams took the field at GoMart Ballpark Thursday for Class A action. The first game featured two teams both traveling at least two hours down south to Charleston, Tyler Consolidated and Petersburg. The good news is fans on both sides made the trip and represented their teams and schools well.
Fans of Tyler Consolidated were pleased to see a win under sunny conditions in the capital city. One couple said it had been a long time since they had last been to Charleston, and this was a perfect excuse to come back.
“It’s actually been almost a whole year since we’ve been here in Charleston, but it’s really a perfect day to come down,” they said.
On top of that, Tyler Consolidated got the win, defeating Petersburg 7-5 and are now moving on to the state championship game in Class A.
It’s the first-ever trip to the State Baseball Tournament for Tyler Consolidated and they know their opponent for Saturday.
From just over an hour away along the banks of the Ohio River came Wahama High School and their fans, taking on a more local team in Charleston Catholic. Locality however did not give the Irish an advantage as Wahama won the contest in 11 innings 4-1, avenging their loss to Charleston Catholic from last year in the state tournament in another classic finish.
Although both games between Wahama and CC were exciting, there’s one major difference between the two that fans on both sides were able to appreciate: the field surface
Renamed GoMart Ballpark, turf was introduced to the baseball field as well.
“Maybe that’ll be the difference,” a Wahama fan said.
Sure enough it was.
“It’s always nice to come down here to Charleston,” the fan went on and said. “It’s hot but our kids are tough and they’ve been playing hard all season. We hope that continues.”
The high temperatures are not slowing down for the weekend either as state tournament baseball continues on Friday and Saturday at GoMart Ballpark in Charleston.
Wahama will matchup with Tyler Consolidated Saturday morning at 10 a.m.