Photo by Cody Tomer Wheeling Park senior James Salvatori and the Patriots are more than ready to finally hit the diamond for their season opener on Tuesday.

WHEELING — The fields are cut, the air is clear and once again spring sports are here.

Today, after nearly two years of waiting, the famous words can finally be said for high school spring athletes in West Virginia — it’s Opening Day!

From baseball and softball fields, to tennis courts and tracks around the state, action will finally begin after COVID canceled last season.

Opening Day brings many emotions and that will certainly be the case at Brooke today, as the Bruins play their first game after the sudden death of respected baseball coach Ron Ujcich Jr. this offseason when they will host Weir.

“We’re going to be honoring Ronnie,” new Brooke head baseball coach C.J. Besece said. “His dad Ron Ujcich Sr. is going to throw out the first pitch for us and Ron’s nephew Alex Jezierski will be catching it. We’re going to do the best we can to honor him. He was a great person and a great coach. Us coaches were a tight knit group and it’s not going to be the same without him there.

“I played some OVBL on the same team as him during summer ball and when I got hired at Brooke, he said ‘you’re coaching with me and you’re never getting out.'” Besece said with a laugh. “So, we were all really close.”

Along with Brooke, Wheeling Central will also get its first baseball action of the season as it visits Madonna, in what will be Jason Rowe’s first game as the new coach of the Maroon Knights since getting hired almost two years ago.

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to coach such great kids,” Rowe said. “We have Jordan Waterhouse, Kaden Yocum, Colby Hartman and Michael Toepfer back and hopefully we are able to make some noise in my first year at the helm.”

John Marshall is also set to host Parkersburg today on the diamond, with Linsly and Magnolia getting back to action on Tuesday.

Wheeling Park will also return to action on Tuesday with a solid group of seniors eager to hit the field.

“We are a senior led group with nine seniors,” Park baseball coach Steve Myers said. “We are excited to finally get a chance to compete together. James Salvatori, Dylan Gongola, Billy Gooch and Seth Hand are a few seniors with experience from two years ago and we also welcome transfer Avery Lee (from Wheeling Central). Avery is committed to Marshall and Dylan is committed to Fairmont State.

“So far we have had two scrimmages and we look forward to growing as a team.”

In softball, the Monarchs will trek to University to open the season today and coach Ed West couldn’t be happier for his players.

“I’ve been ready for this for two years,” West said. “We’ve been practicing and the girls are ready. We’ve all been longing to be out there. We lost a whole season not just for our seniors but for everybody. We have five seniors this year and everybody on the team is looking forward to it. I hope they enjoy being back on the field.”

Magnolia is set to host Frontier, Brooke travels to East Liverpool, Tyler Consolidated visits Williamstown, Linsly heads to Caldwell and Wheeling Park hosts Warren Local for a double-header in today’s softball action.

“Wheeling Park will be young,” Park softball coach Pat Durkin said. “We return only four lettermen in seniors Izzy Miller and Lauren Fox and juniors Riley Richardson and Maddie Westfall.

“I am just excited to see this group of young ladies take the field. We will make some mistakes but will learn from them. They are a fun and energetic team and their hard work should pay off in a very good season.”

On the tennis courts, Wheeling Park will host Indian Creek today and John Marshall on Tuesday, Linsly welcomes Indian Creek today and Wheeling Central opens on Tuesday against Oak Glen.

“It took us a little bit to get back in the swing of things but it sure is nice to be back,” Park tennis coach Tim Ickes said. “We’re blessed with good weather with the late start so we’ve been outside most of the time.”

In track, the action picks up on Tuesday when Brooke visits Beaver Local, John Marshall hosts Valley and Wheeling Park treks to Bellaire.