NEW PLAYING FIELD — Weir High debuted a new grass baseball field Wednesday, hosting Catholic Central. – Aaron Pechal
WEIRTON — Kody Carver and the Catholic Central baseball team looked in good shape entering the bottom of the fifth inning against Weir.
The Crusaders led 1-0 at the point, but the Red Riders exploded for three runs in each of the next two innings as Weir christened its new grass baseball field with a 6-2 victory on a windy Wednesday night.
“This group is an adult group,” Weir (5-2) head coach Dave Cowden said. “They stayed the course. They were focused.
“We hit the ball well last week. When you put the ball in play, you put pressure on the defense and good things happen. They were throwing the ball around. We got stuck a few times. We were aggressive on the basics. I don’t know how many stolen bases we had. I would say eight to 10.
“Trey Cook started. We have a big fight coming up. Enter the Fairmont teams. We wanted to keep him under 75 pitches, and he threw 72. We brought in a freshman — Alex Zanieski — and he finished it for us.
“Catholic Central is a good team. They had good results last year. They are a good team. They are well trained.
“I was proud of our effort tonight. This was our opening home here. The county has put a lot of money into this area. It was great to get the win.”
The Crusaders didn’t commit an error entering the fifth, but the visitors committed six errors over the next two innings, allowing the home team to score a couple of runs.
“We’re playing against some inexperienced guys,” Catholic Central (0-1) head coach Don Young said. “I was pleased with our effort. There were a lot of little things that hurt us. It was our first match. We played two battles.
“We have three inexperienced guys to go along with our six returning players and the guys on the bench are also inexperienced. We will have to learn as we go.
“Weir has a good team. They had two good pitchers. We swung the clubs well but hit some right into them.
“We have to support some things. We will be a work in progress. I am pleased with our efforts. We did a lot of good things.”
Cook earned the win for the Red and Black. Cook struck out seven without walking a batter in his five innings of work on the mound. Zanieski came in to start the sixth and he pitched the final two innings. Zanieski struck out four and struck out three.
Carver took the loss for the Blue and Gold. He struck out six without walking a batter. He was replaced during the fifth by Alex Solema. Solema pitched the next 1/2/3 innings. He did not record a hit while walking three. Eli Fayak replaced Solema with two outs in the sixth. Fayak was able to record the final out of the inning. He did not record a hit or walk.
“They had Cook on the mound,” Young said. “We know him well. It is one of the best pitches in the valley. We swung the bat well against him. We just took too many pitches the first time.
“We will have to learn to play on the field. We will continue to be a work in progress. Cook is a very good pitcher.”
Fajak started the game by being hit by a pitch. Then, with two outs, Carver doubled home Fayak, who had previously stolen second, to give the Jefferson County boys a 1-0 lead.
The score remained 1:0 until the home half of the fifth part.
Lucas McAllister, who transferred to Weir after playing football in the fall at Big Red, led off the inning with a double off the fence in center. Teddy Glyptis then collected his second single of the day and McAllister, who went on to run in the game, scored when the throw went over Tyler Ialenti’s head to tie the game at 1. Glyptis ended up at second on the play.
Glyptis scored on Nico Glass to give the Hancock County boys a 2-1 lead, and Glass went to second on an error. He advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout by Colson Kimmel to give the Boys in Black a 3-1 advantage.
The boys in blue cut into the deficit in the sixth.
Peyton Rauch doubled and he advanced on a wild pitch before scoring on an errant throw to third to pull Catholic Central within 3-2.
The winners regained control in the bottom half of the inning.
Glass and Kimmel both had RBI singles, while the other scored on a Crusader error as Weir extended its advantage to 6-2.
Catholic Central had one last chance to tie or take the lead in the seventh, but things didn’t look promising after the first two batters walked. The Crusaders didn’t throw in the towel, however, as they ended up loading the bases. The pressure was on, but Zanejski recorded a strikeout to end the threat and the ballgame.
“It’s never easy,” Cowden said. “We came out first. Coach Young brought in a young boy. We thought it would be three easy outs. They were giving some younger guys some reps, but they were able to load the bases. Fortunately, we managed to get away from him.
Weir defeated Catholic Central 8-7, while the Red Riders committed just one error to the Crusaders six.
“We made too many mistakes” Young said. “They are a good team. We were able to load the bases.
“We will continue to work. We want to get better every day. This is the goal.
“We made them think. We will never give up.”
Mason Meeks — Catholic Central’s No. 9 hitter — drove in three runs, while Brayden Rauch and Anthony Kerker each had singles.
Cayden Braswell and G Cross each contributed a base hit for Weir.
“Absolutely, the kids were excited to play on it and they’re excited to practice,” Cowden said when asked if his players were excited to play their first game on the new field on the high school campus. “It was nice to get a win on the pitch.
“We started off a little slow. We cleared things up. We moved guys to different positions. I think we have cleared things up now.”
The baseball field is where the softball team’s old field was behind Jimmy Carrey Stadium.
“It’s a nice field,” Young said. “They played seven games. They have managed to understand some things. We made too many mistakes, but we held on.”
Four games are scheduled to be played Saturday at Weir as Oak Glen will also play a doubleheader.
Weir will open the day with a 10 a.m. matchup with Fairmont Senior. Fairmont Senior will play Oak Glen at 12:30 in the second game of the day. Oak Glen will then play North Marion at 3 p.m. before the Red Riders and Huskies meet in the final game of the day at 5:30 p.m.
The Crusaders are off for the rest of the week. Catholic Central is scheduled to play Wellsville on Tuesday at 5:00 PM at home at Vaccaro Field before facing Weir for a second time the following day.
Weir 6, Catholic Central 2
Catholic Headquarters 100 001 0 – 2 7 6
Weir 000 033 X – 6 8 1
CATHOLIC CENTRAL (0-1): Carver LP (4IP, 6K, 0BB), Solema (1 2/3IP, 0K, 3BB), Fayak (1/3IP, 0K, 0BB) and Yalenti. P. Rauch D; Carver D, RBI; B. Rauch S; Kirker S; Mix 3S
WEIR (2-5): Cook WP (5IP, 7K, 0BB), Zanieski (2IP, 4K, 3BB) and McAllister. Braswell S; Cross S; McAllister D; Glyptis 2S; Glass 2S, 2RBI; Kimmel S, 2RBI
