Williamstown senior Maxwell Molessa (2) hit the game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth inning last week against Wheeling Central to win the Class A regional title. (Photo by Kelly Patrick)
WILLIAMSTOWN – Of all the championship banners hanging on the walls of Williamstown High School’s gym, baseball is one sport that demands attention.
While the Yellow Jackets aren’t without success late in the postseason, winning the school’s first state championship in the sport would ease the frustration of a recent trip to Charleston for the Class A state tournament.
Williamstown won a full inning and several extra innings to beat Wheeling Central Catholic, 6-5, in nine innings in the third-round deciding game to win a thrilling regional title and enter this year’s Final Four as the No. 1 seed.
Williamstown (29-5) will face No. 4 seed Buffalo (22-12, 1 tie) at 5 p.m. Friday at Gohmert Park. The second semifinal game will feature No. 2 seed Charleston Catholic (29-3) facing No. 3 seed East Hardy (23-6).
The Yellowjackets are looking for their first state championship in team history, which includes two in coach Levi Maxwell’s first four years at the helm, while Williamstown is looking for its first trip to the finals.
Of its five losses this year, Wheeling Central is the only Class A program to have beaten Williamstown.
“My No. 1 goal is to win it all. I want to get over that barrier,” Coach Maxwell said. “I want it to be a solid part of our program and make a mark in history and just keep moving forward.”
“The biggest thing I learned from going a few times is that I now know what to expect.
“Everything gets amplified. With our tough schedule this year, that atmosphere has become a normal game for us. The series against Wheeling Central really elevated the atmosphere for our guys. Half of our guys have experience, but we don’t know what the other half is going to be like. We’ll see how it goes.”
Buffalo, a three-time state champion, beat Ravenswood in a three-game series in another Class A regional. Buffalo, which has won nine of its last 11 games, overhauled its coaching staff on Senior Day when its original members (head coach and assistants) permanently left the program, replacing them with a principal (Derek Pauley), assistant principal (Josh Isaacs) and athletic director (Josh Bauer).
“Buffalo is one of those teams I’m not too familiar with,” Maxwell said, “I’ll be watching them and Winfield (Monday) and watching them live.”
Among the standout performers for Buffalo were senior Carson Sanders, who led the team in batting average (.360), runs scored (27) and stolen bases (18), while fellow senior Alec Richardson posted a 2.18 ERA in 45 innings pitched, striking out 56 batters and walking just nine.
“For us as coaches, the approach is different than in a district tournament. If a pitcher struggles in a three-game series, we can take him out and see if we can get out of it ourselves,” Maxwell said. “If it’s a one-and-done game, we’ve got to win today. It’s a life or death situation. The bottom line is, if we can’t get through Friday, we’re not going to get to Saturday.”
“These guys are ready. They want to play and they don’t think they’re going to lose. As coaches, we have to bring them back sometimes, but those are the type of kids they are. They’re on top of the world. At this point, we’re ready for anything.”
Some memorable moments that will carry over to this week’s state tournament revolved around two sophomore pitchers, Tyler Coleman and Jenner Burge, who quelled the flames of Wheeling Central’s offense with a combined 9 1/3 innings of relief, allowing the Yellow Jackets to pull off victories in both games.
“Our focus early in the season is putting our young guys in uncertain situations and getting them ready for when it really matters,” Maxwell said.
A key to Williamstown’s success was senior Maxwell Molessa, who has signed to continue his baseball career at West Virginia University. In Game 3 against Wheeling Central, Molessa hit a game-tying single with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning and then hit another game-winning hit, a walk-off triple with two outs to help secure the region title.
“Maxwell Molessa got the job done,” Coach Maxwell said. “He’s been competing all year. Some of his at-bats may not have been great, but in the at-bats that mattered he did the job.”
Maxwell likes this matchup because it allows his team to play at a time they are comfortable with and take the field for the first game. He doesn’t like his players waiting to start their second game.
“We’ve played some tough games and that’s helped us a lot,” Maxwell said. “Sometimes the other team has been behind and we’ve come back. This team doesn’t expect to lose, so we’re just going to keep playing.”
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