Webster County Navigates Improbable Ride to the State Baseball Tournament

Magical runs to the state tournament are not uncommon in West Virginia High School sports.

Saturday afternoon, the Webster County boys baseball team completed its unlikely journey to the state tournament by winning the first-ever regional hardball title in school history.

Improbable doesn't begin to describe this rare accomplishment for Webster County.

"I am just so proud of my guys. The expectation early in the year was to win a few ball games," first year head coach Jerry Skidmore said. "We didn't have any last year. I knew stepping in that I would have some good kids, but I didn't think they were this good."

The Highlanders entered the 2025 campaign coming off of a win-less season in 2024. Not only did the young men from Upper Glade fail to secure a victory, the losses were not pretty.

A season highlighted by numerous double-digit setbacks was capped by two more in the sectional tournament.

Fast forward to this past March and there was clearly hope for a better season in 2025.

A new head coach and some promising freshman shed a positive light on the upcoming venture.

However, for even the biggest fans, making a trip to the state baseball tournament was not a blip on their radar screen.

Excitement began to rise after game one when the Highlanders knocked off Richwood, 22-8, in the baseball version of the "Battle for the Wagon Wheel."

"We have a rival in Richwood and they have beat us the last couple of years," Skidmore explained. "My goal at the beginning of the year was to beat them and we ended up beating them four times this year. That was my short goal."

However, Webster County received a quick reality check when it lost the next five games in a row.

While the nightmares of 2024 could have creeped in, there were positives in the losses. Close games against Class A powers Gilmer County and Tygarts Valley created hope.

The Highlanders won three of the next four games and once the calendar turned to May, Webster was hitting its stride.

A 10-0 postseason win over Montcalm was followed by two straight wins over the Lumberjacks, sending Webster County to the regional championship series with Greater Beckley Christian.

The Crusaders were the top seed in the best-of-3 showdown.

Adding more intensity to the battle, Greater Beckley was also looking for its first-ever state baseball tournament berth.

Webster County had a specific plan for its pitching staff in the series, but after game one slipped through its fingers, there was some mental battles to fight for coach Skidmore.

"Our game plan was to pitch our ace, Maddox Brown, 30 (pitches) the first game, then go from there," Skidmore said. "My (assistant) coach Scott McCourt has been here a lot of years and he told me to just trust him. I said I would really like to win game one, but he said trust him. I told him I was with him."

McCourt's plan was to save Brown for game two and hopefully have No. 2 starter Josten Lewis for game three if needed.

Adding to the hardship was the fact that the Highlanders led 4-1 and 7-5, only to watch some self-inflicted damage cost them the game.

Convinced his team did not play like itself in game one, Skidmore was positive his team would bounce back at home in game two.

Unfortunately the rain had other ideas.

With the field at Upper Glade unplayable and more rain possible, the series was moved back to the turf at Linda K. Epling Stadium in Beckley on Friday.

Although the game was not played in Webster County, Skidmore was correct about his team bouncing back.

The Highlanders took an early 4-0 lead and Brown pitched a complete game with 11 strikeouts for a 7-3 win.

"We rely on our No. 8 (Brown) and he was there for us today," Skidmore said after the game two win. "The team rallied around us and it was a great team win overall."

Winning the historic championship now involved a third straight trip from Upper Glade to Beckley on Saturday.

If the Highlanders were at all road weary, it never showed.

Exploding for nine second inning runs, Webster County secured its place in history with a 15-4 win over Greater Beckley.

"Josten Lewis had a great game today and kept us right where we needed to be. Our bats came alive, so all he had to do was throw strikes," Skidmore said. "He gave up a few (runs) here and there, but we knew that was going to happen. I thought we would come out ahead today because I knew their pitching wasn't as good as ours."

Pitching was clearly one of the major keys to the series win and so was Skidmore's trust in his veteran assistant coach.

"It is nice to win the last two, but I went home Thursday night and I had my head down. It was tough losing that first one," Skidmore admitted. "I had full confidence this team would bounce back. I was confident in them. I told them to have confidence in themselves and they did. They trusted me and here we are. We are going to the states. This is great for us and great for our school. I am proud of my fans that showed up today and just proud of my team."

Naturally, the task at the state tournament will be much bigger.

Thursday morning, Webster County battles No. 1 seed Madonna (26-4) at 10 a.m. in the tournament opener.

The Blue Dons are on an eight-game win streak and have decimated opponents 63-6 in the postseason.

Madonna averages 10 runs per game, while surrendering just two.

The winner of the Thursday's contest with play the winner of No. 2 seed Gilmer County and No. 3 seed East Hardy Saturday at 10 a.m. for the Class A title.