West Holmes Knights feel elation, heartache of 1-0 games

The baseball gods giveth and taketh away.

In the span of two games, the West Holmes Knights felt the fantastic high of winning a pitcher’s 1-0 dual against one of the state’s premier small-school baseball teams, then felt the agonizing sting of the reverse.

The Knights got a sensational pitching effort from freshman Jake Markley, who wheeled and dealed his way to a 1-0 victory over Hiland, but a few days later the Knights felt the pain of loss in a 1-0 Division IV sectional final defeat to Edison that ended their tournament run.

In discussing the victory over the Hawks, West Holmes coach Wyatt Mellor said it was the type of game that can propel a young team forward.

“Giving up just two hits to that team is unbelievable,” Mellor said. “He had his off-speed stuff working, and everything was nasty. He really did a tremendous job of keeping their hitters off balance.”

Mellor said what excited him the most aside from the win was that it was the first time he has seen that bulldog mentality out of Markley.

“He really proved himself under that type of pressure, and that is only going to improve his confidence moving forward,” Mellor said.

Mellor said Markley hasn’t thrown a ton of innings at the varsity level, but he joins a bevy of other freshman hurlers to form what could be a very talented pitching core for the next three seasons.

He is joined by Kendrick Mast, Kolten Taggart and Ben Wilcox, with Markley and Mast getting the majority of varsity experience this season, but all four pitchers saw some action at the top level.

In the Edison loss, the Knights got another sensational pitching effort from senior Cooper Booth, who twirled a gem, going six innings, striking out six and allowing just the one unearned run that would eventually mean the difference for the Knights.

West Holmes simply couldn’t get the bats going, getting just a single hit in the contest.

The loss capped a season filled with promise and close calls.

“We knew this season was going to have its challenges because we were so young,” Mellor said. “It was a season filled with times when we had to learn by experience, both good and bad. Hopefully, we can carry the momentum of the Hiland win forward.”

He also praised Booth for his effort this season, noting he has had an outstanding season, both on the mound and at the plate.

“He’s been so good for us all season,” Mellor said.

The gut-wrenching defeat is a tough way to leave the high school game for Booth, but he did everything within his power to keep the Knights’ tourney run alive.