Defending Champs Wheeling Post 1 Opens State Tournament Play
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BECKLEY -- The Wheeling Post 1 American Legion baseball team is in familiar territory -- that being the American Legion W.Va. State Tournament.
In another sense, Post 1 is in unfamiliar territory. Wheeling has won the last two American Legion state titles, coming into their tournament-opening game Thursday vs. Potomac Valley Post 64 as the defending champs. But, after the state tourney was in Martinsburg in 2024 and Morgantown in 2025, this year's tournament brings Post 1 to Linda K. Epling Stadium in Beckley, W.Va., where Wheeling's hunt for a threepeat commences at 1 p.m. vs. Post 64.
KEEPING IT ROLLING
Wheeling enters the state tournament after dominating the Area 1 tournament, going 3-0 to claim their fourth-straight Area crown. They defeated Ritchie County 22-0, and beat Parkersburg twice, 9-1 and 3-2 in the championship series. Wheeling Post 1 is 24-7 this season. None of those losses have come from West Virginia teams.
STAR-STUDDED
Post 1 has excelled on defense and at the plate this year, with a team OPS of .965 and a team ERA of 2.51.
Among players with at least 50 plate appearances, Post 1 has five players with an OPS above 1.000. Wheeling has known exactly where to put their big bats-- incoming Linsly senior Chris Upton (.500/..535/.744) has spent most of the year hitting leadoff, followed by incoming Wheeling Central senior Jake Brown (.403/.487/.710) in the two-hole. Fellow Maroon Knight Brady Ernest (.474/.516/.772) and fellow Linsly Cadet Dom Fato (.366/.471/.573) have usual spots right in the middle of the order. Wheeling Park's Brody Groome (.319/.510/.536) has hit sixth in many a lineup card for Post 1, including in Wheeling's Area 1 clincher against Parkersburg Post 15-- a sign of the embarrassment of riches Post 1 has on their roster.
Brown leads the team with four home runs, while Upton and Groome have each hit two. Upton leads the team with 21 RBI, followed closely by recent Brooke graduate Andrew Murdock at 20 and Brown at 19. Fato and Wheeling Central's Braxton Billick each have 18 driven in, and Ernest has 17.
On the mound, recent Linsly grad Tuckey Doty has been the most usual suspect for Post 1, leading the team with 35.1 inning pitched. He has done so to a 3.76 ERA with 37 strikeouts. Recent Wheeling Central grad Steven Brodegard is next with 27 innings of work on the hump, sitting at a 2.59 ERA and 34 strikeouts. Aleks Zanieski, a Weir product, has tossed 26.1 innings with a 4.25 ERA and 45 strikeouts. He also helps plenty in the lineup with a .962 OPS.
Erik Blazier has a microscopic 1.47 ERA in 19 innings, Brady Ernest has an impressive 0.43 ERA in 16.1 innings, and Jake Brown has a 1.71 ERA in a like number of innings. Post 1 has plenty of strikeout stuff among their collection of arms, with a roster-wide 10.6 K/9. They have limited their opponents to a .211 batting average.
MEET THE OPPONENT
Potomac Valley comes into the state tournament as the runners-up from Area 4. They are 11-9-1 on the season. Post 64 counts amongst their ranks several players from the Frankfort Falcons, who were WVSSAC Class AA state champions this season. These include Lanson Orndorf, who was named the State Player of the Year by the WVSWA, and other Class AA first-teamers Jaxon Hare and Blake Jacobs. Hare and Jacobs have had fantastic summers, each with an OPS over 1.200. Potomac Valley has a team ERA of 3.95 and a team OPS of .855.
A LOOK AHEAD
The eight-team American Legion state tournament will be played in a double-elimination format. The winner of Post 64 and Post 1's game will face the winner of Morgantown Post 2 and Beckley Post 32. The loser will in-turn face the loser of Morgantown Post 2 and Beckley Post 32. The championship round is set for Monday, July 27.
The W.Va. state champion will advance to the Mid-Atlantic American Legion Regional Tournament in Cherryville, N.C., which begins on August 5.