Cabell Midland and South Charleston will meet for the Class AAA baseball championship after winning their semifinal games today at Appalachian Power Park. Cabell Midland beat Fairmont Senior 6-to-4 in the opener, while South Charleston ousted defending champion Jefferson by the same score.
Fairmont Senior was trying to reach the finals for the fourth straight year in search of its first championship. Instead, it was another state tournament letdown. Fairmont Senior starter Brent Doddrill gave up two runs in the fifth and sixth innings to allow Cabell Midland to go ahead for good. In the fifth, Cabell Midland loaded the bases on three straight bunts, and runs came home on Seth Frye's sacrifice bunt and Alex Whitt's sacrifice fly for a 4-3 lead. Chris Stapleton singled home two more runs in the Cabell Midland sixth. Four of Cabell Midland's six hits came on bunts.
In the second game, Arik Sikula pitched a four-hitter and went three-for-three at the plate. He had a run-scoring single in the fifth inning when South Charleston took the lead for good. Joey Jobst tripled to start the inning. Nicholas Canterbury then bunted toward first base. The throw came home and Jobst scored when he knocked the ball out of the glove of Jefferson catcher Westley Jenkins. Sikula later singled home a run to put South Charleston ahead 6-to-4. Jefferson had runners at first and third with two outs in the seventh, but Sikula got Brian Collins to hit into a fielders choice to end the game.
South Charleston last appeared in the championship game in 1995, when it lost to Martinsburg. The Black Eagles won titles in 1977 and 1978.
Class AAA
Thursday
Semifinals
Cabell Midland 6, Fairmont Senior 4
South Charleston 6, Jefferson 4
Saturday
Championship
Cabell Midland (24-8) vs. South Charleston (21-9), 11 a.m.
Class AA
Friday
Semifinals
Logan (24-7) vs. Magnolia (22-7), 11 a.m.
Shady Spring (16-14) vs. Liberty Harrison (25-8), 30 minutes
after first game
Saturday
Championship
Semifinal winners, 45 minutes after Class AAA awards ceremony
Class A
Friday
Semifinals
Williamstown (16-9) vs. Buffalo (27-4), 6 p.m.
Charleston Catholic (20-14) vs. East Hardy (28-1), 30 minutes
after first game
Saturday
Championship
Semifinal winners, 45 minutes after Class AA award ceremony
Copyright 2006 by wtov9.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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