CLAYSBURG - Claysburg-Kimmel beat Williamsburg twice during the high school baseball regular season - both by a run.
But the Blue Pirates had a weapon they hadn't used ready for their District 6 Class A quarterfinal game against the Bulldogs in the form of 5-foot-8, 155-pound junior Adam Wheland.
The weapon probably wasn't that much of a secret considering he was 5-1 going into the game, but the third-seeded Bulldogs never did quite figure him out.
Wheland tossed a four-hitter, inducing 10 fly ball or lineouts, and struck out six, and he went 2-for-2 with an RBI, reached base all four times and scored two runs to lead the 11th-seeded Blue Pirates to a 3-1 win on a sun-splashed Friday.
"I'd say I pitched pretty well," Wheland said. "I think I could have done a little better. We played them twice during the regular season, and the pitchers who pitched against them said if you throw them high, they'll chase them once you have a couple strikes on them. So, that's what I was doing, and it was working, so I didn't stop."
"Adam Wheland pitched one heck of a game tonight," Williamsburg coach Mark Welch said. "Claysburg hadn't seen him pitching, so that's why I started him. He has a lot of movement on his ball, and he knows how to mix it up without being told."
"Their pitcher threw a good game," C-K coach Justin Harris said. "He mixed his speeds, kept us offbalance and threw strikes I think half our outs were pop-ups."
The win advanced the Pirates (9-8) into the semifinals, where they'll play second-seeded Bishop Guilfoyle, an 11-0 winner over Ferndale, at 4 p.m. Monday at Vets Field.
Wheland, the leadoff hitter, began the offensive pressure right away, working a walk off of Trey Claar, moving to second on an Austin McMonagle single to left and scoring when catcher Zach Helsel's throw sailed into left field following a passed ball.
"That was the most important thing," Wheland said of the first run. "In past games, we waited until the fourth inning until we got runs, and they were already up 3-0 and 2-0. We had to work back, and we lost both games by one. We wanted to get ahead, and stay ahead."
Wheland plated Mike McCall with a two-out single to right in the second, and Wheland scored in the fifth when Dalton Price, who went 3-for-4, poked a single to right.
"That gave us a little breathing room," Welch said. "Dalton has been coming through for us and doing a good job."
C-K's only run came on a two-out single by Matt Repko that scored Devin Weyandt in the second inning. C-K threatened in the fifth and sixth by putting runners at third. The result was Wheland getting three outs - all by strikeout.
Wheland yielded a walk to Helsel to begin the bottom of the seventh, but he induced three pop-outs to finish off his third complete game of the season.
"I wasn't coming out to get it taken away," Wheland said.
When shortstop McMonagle gloved Claar's pop-up for the final out, and Pirates began their celebration. The Bulldogs (13-6) could only watch.
"Being the No. 3 seed and losing the first playoff game is very disappointing," Harris said. "We had a great season, but this loss definitely stings."
"I'm real proud of the guys," Welch said. "These guys have been playing their hearts out lately. We're excited. The guys are pumped up."
WILLIAMSBURG (3): Wheland p 222, McMonagle ss 401, Morrisey rf 300, Price 2b 403, McCauley 3b 300, Dishong c 400, McCall 1b 211, Rabits cf 200, Hearn lf 300. Totals - 27-3-7.
CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL (1): Claar p-1b 400, J. Ickes lf 300, T. Ickes 2b-p 301, Strayer 3b-2b 300, Weyandt cf 311, Knisely 1b 200, Miller 2b 000, Helsel c 200, Repko rf 302, Cox ss 200. Totals - 25-1-4.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Williamsburg110 010 0-3 7 1
Claysburg-Kimmel010 000 0-1 4 2
E-Hearn; T. Ickes, Helsel. 2B-Weyandt. RBI-Wheland, Price; Repko. SB-Wheland, McCauley. CS-McCall (by Helsel). SAC-Rabits; Cox. LOB-Williamsburg 9, Claysburg-Kimmel 5.
PITCHING
Williamsburg: Wheland (W)-7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO.
Claysburg-Kimmel: Claar (L)-4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO; T. Ickes-3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO.
Records: Williamsburg (9-8); Claysburg-Kimmel (13-6).
