HUNTINGTON — George Washington had been here before.
Huntington had not.
That experience showed Wednesday morning at Jack Cook Field.
Despite managing just one hit through six innings and stranding 11 runners on base, the eighth-seeded Highlanders (19-16) repeatedly put pressure on top-seeded George Washington before the Patriots used a three-run sixth inning to pull away for a 6-1 victory in the opening game of the WVSSAC Class AAAA state baseball tournament.
George Washington (30-5) advanced to Friday’s semifinals, while Huntington finished its season with building blocks for the future.
“They really, really made us sweat,” George Washington coach Mike Davis said. “I’ve told Coach (John) Dennison I feel like they’re really, really dangerous despite the final score, and I think you saw that for five innings of this game.”
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The Patriots leaned on senior pitcher Ty Nettles, who struck out 10 batters over 5 2/3 innings while working around constant traffic on the bases. Huntington loaded the bases in the fifth inning and put runners aboard in six of seven innings but struggled to deliver the timely hit it needed.
“It was an approach problem,” Dennison said of his team’s missed opportunities. “We got ahead of ourselves a little bit. We got out front on the curveball and put ourselves behind.”
Nettles credited his defense for helping him escape several jams.
“I couldn’t have done it without my defense,” Nettles said. “I just try to get pitches over for strikes. If you don’t throw strikes, you’re not going to get out of it.”
George Washington finally broke through in the third inning when John Fala doubled and scored on Luke Gordon’s RBI single for a 1-0 lead. The Patriots added two more runs in the fifth as Eli Smith delivered a two-run single that scored Fala and Gordon, extending the advantage to 3-0.
The decisive blow came in the sixth.
After Jackson Engles and Aiden Hayes opened the inning with singles, Fala ripped an RBI double to right field. Gordon followed with a sacrifice fly before Joel Nelson added an RBI double to deep left, pushing the lead to 6-0. Fala finished 3 for 3 with two doubles, two runs scored and two RBIs, while Gordon collected three hits and two RBIs. Nelson added two hits and two RBIs as the Patriots totaled 10 hits.
Huntington finally broke through in the seventh when Matt Hood scored on a wild pitch after the Highlanders loaded the bases. Jacob Ramey delivered Huntington’s lone hit of the game with a single to left field, but the rally ended with back-to-back outs.
Despite the loss, Dennison believed his club proved it belonged on the state’s biggest stage.
“This group of kids can play with anybody,” Dennison said. “Our goal coming here was not to make it easy, to make it as hard as we can on GW. I think we did that.”
For George Washington, the victory keeps alive a quest for the program’s first state championship.
“We’ve got a mature group of kids,” Davis said. “There’s no panic. They just believe that’s going to happen, and they stick with it.”
