Conditions so perfect call for a game that’s just as good and Wheeling Park and John Marshall were more than happy to oblige in a Class AAA Section 1 elimination game.

Two days after the pair of rivals faced off in a playoff opener on the same field, the familiar foes went blow for blow Thursday, neither one wanting their season to end.

Park third baseman Braydon Kupsky played the hero as he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning with two runners aboard and the score tied 5-5.

For the second plate appearance in a row, John Marshall elected to intentionally walk the batter in front of Kupsky, Gian Degenvoa. In the bottom of the sixth, the move paid off for the Monarchs as Kupsky hit a harmless flyball to right field that ended the inning. This time, however, Kupsky had the last laugh as he hit a hard line drive into left field that allowed pinch runner Will James to come around to score from second base and give the Patriots (12-9) the 6-5 victory.

photo by: Cody Nespor

Wheeling Park pinch runner Will James slides home safely ahead of John Marshall catcher Gage Mikels to score the walk-off run during the Patriots 6-5 win Thursday.

“He’s made some big hits all year,” Park coach Steve Meyers said of Kupsky. “We saw that the defense was going for the bunt and we decided to take our chances and believe in Kup and he delivered.”

It was not Kupsky’s first big hit of the game, either. A four-run top of the fifth gave John Marshall a 5-1 lead heading into the final stages of the game. But, Park came right back with four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning.

Michael Bittinger singled home Grant Simons before Kupsky hit a two-run double with the bases loaded that cut JM’s lead to 5-4. Daniel Crumm later worked a bases-loaded walk that knotted the game 5-5.

“That’s the best fight I’ve seen out of these guys all year,” Meyers said. “When they’re together, anything can happen and they were together in this ballgame.”

The Monarchs (12-16) had their chances late in the game and with a depleted stable of arms, coach Mark Cisar knew he would have to take a few risks.

photo by: Cody Nespor

Pinch runner Will James (1)celebrates with teammate Dylan Hodgson (21) after scoring the walk-off run as Wheeling Park defeated John Marshall 6-5 in Thursday’s Section 1 elimination game.

With runners on the corners and one out in the top of the sixth, Cisar called for a double steal play to try and grab the lead — when Kaden Yunke took off for second base, Chase Kerns broke for home. Park catcher Luke Marsh threw down to second, but shortstop Nick Tsoras, who began the game on the mound, cut off the throw in front of the bag and fired back to the plate, where Marsh received the ball and tagged out Kerns, ending the threat.

“Phenomenal game, it could have gone either way,” Cisar said. “We had a couple of chances and we took a couple of shots. We knew we were going to have to take some chances.

“It was just a really, really, really good game. It’s a tough one to lose, a tough one to swallow, but this is a game you can go and wake up tomorrow and say that we did everything we possibly could to win.”

JM again got two runners aboard with just one out in the top of the eighth, but Bittinger struck out the next two hitters he faced to end the inning.

Bittinger, who relieved Tsoras in the fifth inning, did not have an ideal start to his appearance Thursday. Each of the first four batters he faced reached base safely as part of JM’s four-run rally in the top of the fifth. The senior recovered to throw four scoreless innings and grab the win, however.

“I think he set the tone,” Meyers said. “I think his competitiveness spread out to the rest of the guys on the team. When he was in it, everybody else picked up. He led the way (Thursday) for sure.”

John Marshall’s rally started with back-to-back leadoff singles from the No. 8 and 9 hitters, Kerns and Gage Mikels, that chased Tsoras from the contest. Starting pitcher Dillon Wright followed up with an RBI single and Jacob Coffield drove in another run with a fielder’s choice. Ethan Neely followed with a run-scoring double and Jacob Korngiver’s RBI single capped off the four-run outburst.

“Our lower half (of the lineup) did a nice job the whole day (Thursday),” Cisar said. “We got on and put some runners in motion with a couple of hit and runs and it paid off for us. We battled, they battled and it could have gone either way.”

When Park got all four of those runs back in the bottom of the inning, that closed the book on Wright’s day on the mound. Coffield, who pitched in Tuesday’s game against the Patriots, came on in relief and tossed three scoreless frames before allowing the walk-off run in the bottom of the ninth. Like Bittinger, Coffield kept his team in the game all the way into extra innings, taking the hard-luck loss.

Kupsky powered Park’s offense with two singles, a double and three RBI. Marsh also had two singles and a double while Bittinger had two singles and two RBI. Tsoras had two hits at the plate while Crumm had a hit and an RBI walk.

Brennan Sobutka had three hits for JM, including a double. Neely had an RBI and a double while Wright, Coffield and Korngiver all had run-scoring singles. Kerns and Mikels finished with two hits apiece.

Wheeling Park advances in the Section 1 tournament with the unenviable task of traveling to Morgantown to play the top-seeded Mohigans later today. With the double elimination format of the tournament, Park would need to defeat Morgantown in consecutive games today and Saturday to win the section championship. Morgantown needs just one win to claim the title.

“Anything can happen, I’ve seen it before,” Meyers said. “Believe in yourselves and compete, that’s our message.”

Wheeling Park 6, John Marshall 5, 9 Innings

JM 0-0-1 0-4-0 0-0-0 — 5 12 0

WP 0-0-1 0-4-0 0-0-1 — 5 13 0

JM — Wright (3K, 2BB), Coffield lp (6) (3K, 2BB) and Mikels. Wright S, rbi; Coffield S, rbi; Neely D, rbi; Korngiver S, rbi; Bre. Sobutka 2S, D; Kerns 2S; Mikels 2S.

WP — Tsoras (1K, 3BB), Bittinger wp (5) (5K, 0BB) and L. Marsh. Tsoras 2S; Bittinger 2S, 2rbi; L. Marsh 2S, D; Kupsky 2S, D, 3rbi; Crumm S, rbi.