Hurricane人妖色情片檚 Brodee Lucas (13) pitches to Spring Valley during the Class AAAA Region 4 high school baseball finals on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Hurricane.
Spring Valley人妖色情片檚 Gabe Chambers pursues a ball against Cabell Midland during a high school baseball game on Friday, April 25, 2025, at Cabell Midland High School in Ona.
Hurricane人妖色情片檚 Brodee Lucas (13) pitches to Spring Valley during the Class AAAA Region 4 high school baseball finals on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Hurricane.
Spring Valley人妖色情片檚 Gabe Chambers pursues a ball against Cabell Midland during a high school baseball game on Friday, April 25, 2025, at Cabell Midland High School in Ona.
HURRICANE, W.Va. 人妖色情片 Hurricane人妖色情片檚 Weston Smith and Spring Valley人妖色情片檚 Garrett Wagoner were expected to be the stars for their respective baseball teams heading into the Class AAAA Region 4 championship series.
Both seniors had their moments to shine in the best-of-three set, capped by Hurricane人妖色情片檚 9-3 win over the Timberwolves on Wednesday at Lola Meeks Field in Hurricane. However, underclassmen for both teams showed why they were varsity starters this season too.
Brodee Lucas, a sophomore, took the mound for Hurricane in the decisive game of the series. Lucas pitched five innings, allowed six hits and struck out three to help Hurricane earn its first trip to the state tournament since 2022.
Hurricane also had a sophomore on the mound for Game 2. Ryan Bowman pitched all six innings in Spring Valley人妖色情片檚 5-0 win with Wagoner on the mound.
人妖色情片淲e人妖色情片檝e had some guys step from that class,人妖色情片 Hurricane coach Brian Sutphin said. 人妖色情片淭hat sophomore class is a strong class. Not just pitching. There人妖色情片檚 a lot of guys who haven人妖色情片檛 really got a whole lot of time on the varsity field yet who we think are more than capable.人妖色情片
Seniors regularly start in six of Hurricane人妖色情片檚 nine spots on the field. That didn人妖色情片檛 leave many opportunities for many of the freshmen and sophomores.
人妖色情片淚 like our sophomore and junior class,人妖色情片 Sutphin said. 人妖色情片淥ur freshman class, we have a lot of them and some guys that are going to get better.
人妖色情片淚t is hard to predict year-to-year,人妖色情片 the coach continued. 人妖色情片淪ometimes guys, they develop 人妖色情片 you usually don人妖色情片檛 stay the same. I look forward to seeing them develop.人妖色情片
Tyler Baxter is another sophomore who has had a big year for Hurricane. In Wednesday人妖色情片檚 finale, Baxter was 2 for 3 at the plate with a single, a double and a team-high four RBIs.
Spring Valley is in a similar situation, with young talent set to return to replace the loss of several seniors.
Junior Brody Spencer was one of the Timberwolves人妖色情片 top pitchers, coach Austin Pratt said, before an injury prevented him from taking the mound for much of the season.
人妖色情片淲e人妖色情片檝e been fighting the injury bug all year,人妖色情片 Pratt said.
Cole Ferguson, a senior shortstop, tore his hamstring at the end of spring break, according to Pratt. In his place, sophomore Gabe Chambers filled in and performed well.
人妖色情片淕abe Chambers playing shortstop really saved our season,人妖色情片 Pratt said. 人妖色情片淗e stepped up and made some unreal defensive plays. The future is bright for that kid.人妖色情片
The landscape of Class AAAA Region 4 will change next season as the Timberwolves drop to Class AAA. The strongest challenger to a Hurricane repeat is likely Cabell Midland, winner of the two previous Class AAA state championships in the old three-class format. Spring Valley eliminated the Knights this season in the sectional round.
Rick Elmore covers sports. He can be reached at 304-348-5122 or relmore@hdmediallc.com. Follow @ElmoreSports on Twitter/X.
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