Wyoming East Jumps Into The State Tournament Frying Pan Against Wheeling Central Catholic

Championship buzz in Wyoming County is nothing new.

In regards to the baseball team, however, it has been a while for that postseason fervor.

Thirteen years to be exact.

The excitement this year for Warrior Nation will reach its zenith Thursday evening at 5 p.m. when the Warriors battle top-seeded Wheeling Central inside GoMart Park for a berth in the Class AA state championship game Saturday.

"I hope (Wheeling Central head coach Tom Cover) leaves a couple of his pitchers at home," Wyoming East head coach Kevin Hedinger said, playfully. "They play a lot of out of state teams that are pretty good. Hopefully (Warrior starter) Jaeden (Lester) can keep us in it and we can sneak in a few runs here and there."

While the Warriors are confident they can pull off the upset, they will clearly have their hands full with the Maroon Knights.

"They are a pretty confident bunch of kids. I don't think they lack that," Hedinger said. "Sometimes they are a little over confident and you have to bring them down to earth. We are happy to be there, but we are going to try and win a state championship."

Central carries a 25-4 record and won the Ohio Valley Athletic 3A Championship this year. Regular season wins include triumphs over AAAA No. 1 seed Cabell Midland and Class A No. 1 seed Madonna.

While Wyoming East is still a fairly young team, the Maroon Knights are led by a core group of seniors in Braxton Billick, Gary Hatfield, Seth Cover (coaches middle son), Luke Tiu and Andy Bailer that have been through the postseason battles.

"We have four seniors that have started since day one for us. They are pretty important to us and to our line-up," Cover said. "As they have gotten older, we have had some influx of younger talent come in to help us out."

Following a rough freshman season, the senior group suffered walk-off losses in game three of the regional series as sophomores and as juniors.

Now battle tested, Central hangs its hat on pitching and defense. Coach Cover has a pair of juniors that can bring the heat.

"Brayden Cover, my youngest son, and Steven Brodegard both throw in the upper 80's and touch 90 here or there," Cover said. "After them, it's probably Seth Cover as our third starter."

Along with some strong arms at the top of the rotation, depth is the main strength for the Maroon Knights.

"I could throw any one of 10 pitchers out there and feel pretty comfortable about it. Our team is pretty deep that way," Cover said. "It is a good problem to have, but not always fun because they don't all get to play at the same time. It's better than not having any pitching."

During the postseason run, Wyoming East has hit the ball well. Naturally, Hedinger is hoping that trend continues on the biggest stage.

Miken Smyth leads the team with a .489 average, followed by Zach Hunt hitting .429. Braxton Morgan has been solid, hitting .364, as well as Lester (.371), Blake Shrewsbury (.357), Dylan Golden (.338) and Gaige Cooper (.325).

Talan Muscari has set the table for the top of the line-up and had four hits in the regional championship series win.

"I don't see us going up there and putting up a ton of runs, but I just hope our guys can compete at the plate," Hedinger said. "Hopefully we can get some stuff to fall. That is a big field. Maybe get a couple balls in the gap."

Although Wyoming East (25-7) won't match Central's depth on the mound, it definitely can match the quality at the top of the rotation.

Lester has pitched 61 innings with a 2.18 ERA and 120 strikeouts. Jarred Phillips has thrown 56.1 innings with a 1.49 ERA and has 72 strikeouts. Both hurlers have been strong in the postseason.

"It wouldn't surprise me if we don't throw both of them," Hedinger explained. "You can't win it if you don't get to the championship game. Jaden is pretty confident."

The Wheeling Central coach is expecting a tough battle Thursday.

"Wyoming East is going to present a lot of challenges for us. At a stage this big, it's going to be who can settle down, who can get rid of the nerves and who can just play a better game. They have a lot of good players and they have some good pitchers," Cover said. "I can talk about how deep we are, but at the end of the day, it is nine-on-nine and the field is the same for both of us. Whoever plays better is going to come out happier on Thursday."

The last time the Maroon Knights were in the state tournament was 2019. Central hasn't won the overall title since 2011.