PARKERSBURG - If there is one thing Parkersburg South head baseball coach Matt Null has learned it is that-in high school baseball you either die by the error or you live by the error.
Tuesday night at Hank Greenburg Field the red, white and blue live by the miscue as the Patriots captured a wild, 13-12, victory over John Marshall with the final two runs crossing the plate thanks to an error by the Monarchs' shortstop.
"That (errors) is high school baseball early in the season," explained Null. "If we are playing this way in late April or early May, then we will be in trouble."
The victory upped Parkersburg South's mark to 3-4 on the season with a road game at Magnolia at 5 p.m. today while John Marshall dropped to 2-1 with a home encounter against Brooke slated for 4 p.m. today.
"Any time you can get a win, it's a positive," continued the coach. "But, when you have a team as young as this one is, it's extremely important."
Picking up the victory with two innings of relief work was sophomore left-hander Hunter Hamilton. The second year varsity player took over in the sixth inning, giving up a pair of singles, but striking out three of the seven batters he faced.
The loss went to the Monarchs' Matthew Carnahan, who started behind the plate, but took over for reliever Logan Patrick in the bottom of the seventh with runners on second and third and only one out.
Junior Dustin Helmic, who started on the mound for the Patriots, but lasted only 2 innings, greeted Carnahan with an infield single to load the bases. However, the Monarchs' senior struck out Hamilton looking to give the visitors one last chance to pull out the win.
First baseman Wes Mitchem became the hosts final chance to victory and the sophomore sent the third offering by Carnahan straight at the John Marshall shortstop for what appeared to be a game-ending groundout.
That wouldn't be the case, however, as the ball slipped under the shortstop's glove and into the outfield as Jacob Wilcox scored the tying run with Helmic right on his heels to score the game-winning run.
"We dug ourselves quite a hole with all of the errors we committed, but I'm proud of the way our kids fought back to get the win," said the coach.
Helmic and Jacob Mason both picked up a pair of hits in the game while Anthony Cornell, Chris Smith and Mason each came away with doubles. Wilcox finished with a pair of runs-batted-in.
