“It’s been a pretty good year as young as they are,” said Gary Smith, Pendleton County assistant coach. “Sometimes, you’ve got to realize we’re playing basically a JV team.”
That said, “It’s nice to have freshmen talented enough that they can step in and play,” said Smith. Sam Yokum, head coach, added later, “They’ve had to grow up a lot, the freshmen and sophomores.”
Travis Owens has emerged as one of the best sophomore players in the state. The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission state track meet qualifier hits .403 with 29 hits and 25 runs batted in. On the pitching mound, he has a two wins and no loss record, a 4.96 earned run average, and 23 strikeouts.
Ty Armentrout and Cooper Smith have wielded respectable bats with a .316 and .275 average, respectively. Connor Hartman has established himself as a strong defensive player, reliable in tough situations.
Among the freshmen, Jaxson Simon has emerged as a reliable catcher, able to gun down base stealers while hitting .275 and sending in 22 runs batted in. Landon Davis stepped in for injured players as the season wound down and hit for a .360 average. Wyatt Haynes and Bryce Propst have also performed well when called upon.
Where they have made even more significant contributions has come with providing valuable pitching innings. Valuable in that they get more acclimated to varsity play, but also give plenty of respite to more experienced starters and relievers. Mason Miller pitched 30 and one third for a three and four record and a very respectable 5.31 earned run average. Cohen Hiett has almost 10 innings and a 0.75 ERA.
The team qualified for states with a 14 and 15 record, but as Yokum emphasizes, only 15 of those games came against Class A competition. An “old school” believer in the fact that tough schedules build tough teams, Yokum scheduled competitive games against Class AA, AAA, and also AAAA competition, competing well in some games against Jefferson, Hampshire, and Musselman.
“We’ve played up. We’ve taken some lumps, but we talked about that from the get go,” said Yokum.
As he spoke, the crack of bats and the popping of baseballs into leather gloves produced “boys of summer” music under the brilliant blue skies whose hues match those of Wildcat team colors.
Though practice that Friday was light, with some traveling to cheer on the softball team in the state tournament, “I’d never tell them they can’t go and support the softball team,” noted Yokum. This week, games against Class AAAA qualifier Jefferson and Class AA qualifier Lincoln were scheduled.
Jefferson won the contest on Monday nine to two, but the game played out as more of an exhibition with both squads eyeing state competition in Huntington.
Yokum discussed the importance of taking a team loaded with youth, saying, “It gives them an opportunity to get the feel of the next level . . . playing in those conditions.” Games will take place on Marshall University’s field in downtown Huntington.
“I’m excited to hear that the high school baseball playoffs are going to Huntington,” said the head coach. He described plans to allow players to keep their “walk up” music and also have their head shots displayed prominently on the scoreboard. “They’re going to want to keep this for a long time.” Yokum added “they’ve got batting cages where we’re allowed to take batting practice,” noting that those were not present in years’ past.
As of press time, the WVSSAC had not yet released the seedings or the schedule. Yokum shared, “it will be interesting,” but expressed a desire to play in the first round on Saturday a team the Wildcats had not yet faced.
A familiar foe in defending state champion East Hardy will also traverse the state to play, but “We want to see someone different, catch them in an off game,” said Yokum, who then added “we talk about this a lot. We’ll play anyone, anywhere for the opportunity to compete for a state championship.”
