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The 2019 West Virginia High School Baseball season is entering the home stretch this upcoming week in the Mountain State. As a part of our coverage, today we finish a series of articles looking at the match up's in each classification. Here is a look at the semi-final games and projected match up's for the upcoming state tournament: 

Friday 5:00 p.m. - #1 St. Albans (32-4) vs. #4 Wheeling Park (20-9)

What you need to know:

St. Albans is making it's third straight appearance in the final four. The Red Dragons not only have one of the more impressive pitching staff's in the tournament, but also bring a much respected offense. They will look to Jake Carr, Casey Kemplin, Ridge Lester, Darin Flowers, Connor Fizer, and Nick Loftis (among others) as they attempt to get through Wheeling Park and punch their ticket into the Championship game. 

Probable Starter: LHP Ayden Hodges (8-1) - .755 ERA - 73K's - 46 1/3 Innings

This is by far the most intriguing story line of the tournament. There are alot of folks who believe Coach Whitman will go with staff ace Jake Carr in this game. He very well may, but there isn't much of, if any, drop off in throwing Hodges. He has more than swing and miss stuff and the ability to give St. Albans a chance to win. Opponents are hitting a abysmal .171 off the junior left-hander. Either way, Coach Whitman has to like his chances.

Wheeling Park is making it's second consecutive trip to Charleston after coming off a loss to Hurricane in last years Championship. Park will look to senior leaders Trevor Thomas and Ben Taylor (among others) as they look to pull the upset against St. Albans. 

Probable Starter: RHP Isaac Hines (5-0) - 1.42 ERA - 31K's - 39 1/3 Innings

We don't have much info on Hines, but he seems to be the most logical option, although Ryan Hummel could get the nod here. You can almost count on seeing Trevor Thomas at somepoint during the game, especially if Park finds a way to take the lead later in the game. 

Thursday - 50 minutes after - #2 Hurricane vs. #3 Hedgesville

What you need to know: 

Hurricane enters as the defending Champions and not one likely to go away without a fight. They have some firepower of their own and will lean on Matt Vance, Joel Gardner, JT Cooper, Austin Dearing, Cole Bumgarner, Tyler Cox, Enzo Lewis and Brendan Lewis (among others) as they look to make it back-to-back trip to the Championship game.

Probable Starter: LHP Jonathan Blackwell (?) - 1.21 ERA - 100K's - 57 2/3 Innings 

We believe that with the match up against a strong Hedgesville team, this will force Coach Sutphin to throw Blackwell in this game. The old adage "you can't win the championship if you don't get there" applies here. Blackwell has more than swing and miss stuff (averaging almost 2K's per inning) and gives the Redskins a great shot at getting into the Championship. 

Hedgesville enters the state tournament after sweeping Jefferson in their Regional final. The Eagles will bring a strong lineup lead by seniors Chase Delauter, Brady Weaver, Hunter Coe along with sophomore Kyle West (among others). Hedgesville will need to swing it well if they're going to beat Blackwell and the Redskins.

Probable Starter: LHP Chase Delauter  (9-1) - .812 ERA - 101K's - 60 1/3 Innings

There's no doubt that Head Coach Eric Grove will give the ball to the Gatorade Player of the Year. Delauter has been nothing short of brilliant this spring with opponents hitting a dreary .161 off the senior left-hander. His fastball has had natural arm side run at 85-87mph and topped 88. We see this game as a low scoring affair where runs will be at a premium and may be whoever scores first wins. 

UPCOMING EVENTS

SHOWCASE	STATE	DATE	LOCATION
2019 West Virginia Top Prospect Games	WV	06/11	Frank Loria Field
Central West Virginia Summer Kickoff Showcase	WV	06/26	Sue Morris Complex
Parkersburg College Prospect Showcase	WV	07/09	Bennett Stump Field - City Park
Eastern Panhandle College Prospect Showcase	WV	07/16	Potomac State College
West Virginia Deep South College Prospect Showcase	WV	07/24	Linda K Epling Stadium
Junior Future Games	NATIONAL	07/30	LakePoint

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