Sophia Senior Little League All-Stars look for elusive state title

Sophia Senior Little League All-Stars open tournament play Saturday in Logan

The Sophia Senior Little league All-stars have been knocking on the state championship door in recent years.

Now they are looking to knock it down.

Saturday morning, Sophia will open the double-elimination West Virginia Senior League State Tournament with an 11 a.m. game against Ripley/Ravenswood on Roger E. Gertz Field in Logan.

The winner of that game will advance to play Hedgesville at 4 p.m. The loser will drop into the elimination bracket and play Sunday at noon.

Senior League encompasses player in the 14-16 age group. Sophia has a veteran core that has been through the rigors of state tournament play.

"The team is mainly 15 and 16 years-old with one 14 year-old player. Out the 13 (players) that we have, 10 played last year. The core guys on the team are going on five years being together through the All-star system," manager Andy Austin said. "They were the state runner-up last year and finished third the year before, so I feel like this is the year that we can win it."

The Senior League season cannot start until high school baseball officially ends. Once the season ended, Austin went to work putting the team together.

"Once high school baseball is over, I start recruiting kids that are interested in extending their summer baseball," Austin said. "We have representation from Liberty, Independence, Greater Beckley and Shady Spring."

Carter Hajash, Hunter Milam, Colyn Smith, Andrew Coalson and Alan Coalson are the teammates that have been together the longest. They will be joined by Cam Shea, Chase Shea, Collin Howell, Drake Cook, Hunter Austin, Justin Williams, Levi Shrewsberry and Logan Ellis.

The biggest asset for Sophia this year comes on the mound where Austin has numerous options to choose from during the tournament run.

"We are really deep," Austin indicated. We don't have that so-called, ace, but we have seven pitchers that are all about equal. In tournament play, you need arms, especially playing two games in one day due to Little League pitch (count) requirements."

"Carter Hajash, Andrew Coalson and Hunter Austin will be depended on for heavy innings," Austin went on to say. "Hunter Milam has thrown a lot of good innings. Collin Howell from Greater Beckley has joined us for the first time this year. He will give us some innings."

The kryptonite for Sophia in tournament play has been Logan and this year, if Sophia is to win the title, it will once again go through the defending state champions. This time however, it will have to occur on Logan's home turf.

"Logan is definitely the meter for us," Austin said. "We know when we go down there that we have to play our A-game against Logan."

While Logan and Sophia could likely meet up, Sophia cannot afford to get caught looking ahead.

"Ripley being added to the field this year is another element and we start out playing them. Hopefully we will have a heavy day Saturday, getting a win over Ripley and then playing Hedgesville," Austin said. "We know what we have in Logan, but we can't look past Ripley or Hedgesville."

The WV state champion advances to the Southeast Region in Safety Harbor, FL, July 18-22. The Senior League World Series will be played in Easley, SC, July 26 - Aug. 2.