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Cameron Stuns Wheeling Central in Sectional Baseball Tournament

Dragons dig out of 3-0 hole to move on to title game

Photo by Kyle Lutz Cameron’s Noah Neely takes a swing during Tuesday’s Class A Region One, Section One game against Wheeling Central. The Dragons won, 5-3, to advance to the title game.

WHEELING — In order to win games, confidence is the key, no matter what the circumstances are.

After the second inning, Cameron faced a 3-0 hole against Wheeling Central after giving up two runs thanks to a throwing error. Also, in the top of the second, the Dragons had the bases loaded with no outs only to see the Maroon Knights escape unharmed. Some wind was knocked out of them, but the confidence was still there.

Cameron managed to capitalize off of Central mistakes as it scored five runs over the next two innings to secure a 5-3 victory Tuesday during a West Virginia Class A Region One, Section One matchup at the J.B. Chambers Complex at I-470 Fields.

The Dragons advanced to the sectional title game while Wheeling Central will face Madonna in the loser’s bracket at 6 p.m. tonight. The Blue Dons defeated Hundred, 10-0, on Tuesday.

“The confidence level with us never really drops too far,” Cameron coach Matt Carnahan said. “I just told them, they make a mistake, nobody is mad at you but yourself. If you can get over it yourself and not be mad at yourself, no one else cares. We’re ready for you to make another play. We have the confidence in you to make any play that comes at you. That’s what we’ve been doing all year. I said it (Monday) after the game, too. Just get over it and keep playing.

“They’re (Central) a good team, they got up 3-0 and these guys just battled back and kept to our identity and pull one out.”

The Dragons got on the board in the third inning. After Isaac Ball and Noah Neely tallied singles, Jessop Broughton plated the first run for Cameron with a RBI single. With Aidan Lucey up, Broughton took off for second as Central tried to catch him stealing. During a rundown, Neely made it to home safely, and the score read, 3-2.

Cameron continued to capitalize on the mistakes of the Maroon Knights in the fourth. They took the lead after Logan Burkett stole second. The throw by the catcher went into the outfield as Travis Mickey made it 4-3.

Burkett scored the final run on a passed ball to make it 5-3.

“We weren’t great offensively, but they (Central) got good pitching. We knew that coming in,” Carnahan said. “We also know we’re good at causing a little mayhem on the basepaths. We put pressure on teams by doing that. We tell them to get on base and we make stuff happen. That’s what happened (Tuesday).”

The offense came out swinging for the Maroon Knights in the early going. On the first pitch of the game, Avery Lee ripped a single. Jordan Waterhouse tallied a RBI single two batters later.

Wheeling Central went right back at it in the second and capitalized on a handful of Dragon errors. Sonny Peluchette led off and made it to first safely after it was called Cameron’s first baseman drug his foot off the bag on the force out.

With two on and two outs, Lee stepped up to the plate again. On a grounder, an error throw by the Dragons allowed Peluchette and Kyle Newmeyer to score to make it 3-0.

However, Noah Neely held the Knights in check and allowed one hit the rest of the night.

“I’m really disappointed in how we played because we didn’t play that way all year” Wheeling Central coach Bo McConnaughy said. “To come in here when the game’s on the line and with the situation to go to state. We’ve been there for two years in a row. Maybe they think it’s automatic and it’s not. They got a good team. Matt has done a good job with them. We will have to wait and see. We have a game (today) and either we come out and play or we’ll be going home.”

Broughton led the offensive charge for the Dragons with three singles and plated the lone earned run. Neely went the distance as he fired seven strikeouts compared to one walk.

“Noah Neely was amazing on the mound,” Carnahan said. “Every single pitch I was calling, he hit every spot, threw a lot of strikes and was able to keep them off balance because we were able to throw off speed early and comeback with fastballs late. He had his knuckleball working. A lot of confidence with him on the mound.”

Madonna 10, Hundred 0

Madonna scored six runs in the third inning as it defeated Hundred in a West Virginia Class A Region One, Section One matchup.

Gavin Dietrich supplied two doubles, one single and one RBI for the Blue Dons while Christian Ridgway tallied two singles, one double and one RBI.

Dom Brncic and Matt Amaismeyer both secured a single and RBI while Luke Beatty brought home a run with a double.

“We came here and took care of business, did what we needed to do. Tomorrow’s a new day,” Blue Dons assistant coach Eric Sperlazza said.

Dom Mazur fired five strikeouts in three innings of work for Madonna.

For the Hornets, Bryce Bartrug, Marlin Hippensteel and Christopher Rine all supplied singles.

Hundred looked to get a run across the board with the bases loaded in the fifth inning. But Madonna caught it sleeping as it cutoff a runner on third to end the game.

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