FAIRMONT — Fairmont Senior head coach Steve Naternicola was looking for his Polar Bear baseball team to get up for Thursday’s Region I, Section 3 championship game against North Marion.
The two teams split the first two games of the series, both of which were closely contested.
But it was a different story.
The Polar Bears looked like the team that has won sectional titles for the last eight years in a 10-0 defeat of the upstart Huskies to claim the sectional title at Mary Lou Retton Park.
“It was a big difference,” Naternicola said. “The kids showed up today. North Marion played great the last two games, I was just hoping we’d come out today with a little fire, and the guys stepped up.”
Andrew Marra took the hill for the Polar Bears and provided the lift his team needed, much as North’s Cory Jones did in game two.
Marra went all five innings, allowing no runs on two hits. He walked one and struck out four.
“Andrew went out there and threw strikes,” Naternicola said. “He let his defense do the work behind him, and that’s what you’ve got to do. It’s not an individual sport. You can’t rely on one guy to get everyone out or to get all the hits.”
The Polar Bears struck early and often.
Marra led off the bottom of the first with a walk and moved up on Trevor Malnick’s single. Shane Valentine loaded the bases after being hit by a pitch, and Gage Chichester drew a bases-loaded walk to score the first run of the game.
Allen Rickards followed with an RBI ground out, and Mike Ice drove in a pair of runs with a single.
Fairmont then put five more runs on the board in the third inning.
Rickards led off the inning with a double. Jamie Allard walked, and Levi Pawich scored Rickards with a single. Marra followed with a two-run double. Franklin Wilson capped the inning with a two-run home run.
“We had a lot of guys hit the ball today,” Naternicola said. “We had eight different guys score runs. That’s what it takes to win games; everybody has to contribute.”
The Polar Bears finished off the game in the fifth inning when Allard led off with a single and moved to second on Pawich’s sacrifice bunt. Allard then went to third on a passed ball and scored when Malnick’s two-out grounder was misplayed.
The Polar Bears improved to 17-7 and will move on to face rival East Fairmont in the Region I semifinal on Monday, May 25 at Mary Lou Retton Park.
The Huskies end the season with a 13-13 record, their best record in the past several years.
“It’s nice to move on,” Naternicola said. “It’s become something of a tradition with our seniors. This is our eighth in a row, and the kids don’t want to be a team that breaks that streak.”
E-mail Mike Bowen at mbowen@timeswv.com.
Sports Central
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PHOTO BY TAMMY SHRIVER
May 15, 2009
Fairmont Senior wins sectional title
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Four straight
Adam LaRoche had a two-run double in the 10th inning Tuesday night, and the Pittsburgh Pirates won their season-high fourth straight, an 8-5 victory over the Washington Nationals, who lost their sixth in a row.
Both streaks feature plenty of offense. -
Saving the day
You know the endpoint — goal after goal, the undefeated season, the state championship hardware that’s reserved a spot in the Fairmont Senior trophy case.
The Polar Bear girls’ lacrosse team, though, had humble beginnings. Most of this year’s senior class had not played the sport, had done little else than pick up a stick, until their first high school game. -
Bucs bust out in 7th, win series
In the span of one near-historic inning Sunday, the Pirates went from getting shut down to winning in a rout.
The Pirates scored 10 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, three of which were driven in by Nate McLouth, to turn a three-run deficit into a seven-run lead as they rallied for an 11-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park. - Yates goes on DL; Pirates make minor trades Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Tyler Yates was placed on the 15-day disabled list before Sunday’s 11-4 win over the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park with elbow inflammation. Yates has been unable to pitch multiple innings this season and has appeared on consecutive days just twice because of the elbow.
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Twice as nice
Pure joy.
It was all over the field Saturday night. In the form of smiles, hugs, a team pile-on and boys lacrosse equipment strewn across the East-West Stadium turf.
The first stick to go airborne started the celebration, and made Fairmont Senior’s season-long goal a reality, as the Polar Bears upset No. 1 Morgantown, 9-8, for their first state title. -
Polar Bears go back-to-back
The perfect season now has a perfect ending.
Fairmont Senior’s girls’ lacrosse team capped an undefeated season Saturday afternoon with an 11-9 victory over Morgantown in the state title game at East-West Stadium.
The Polar Bears, who finished at 17-0, are believed to be the first state champion in school history to go unbeaten. -
Double duty
While both have a date with Morgantown — and perhaps destiny — Fairmont Senior’s girls’ and boys’ lacrosse teams have different motivating factors heading into today’s WVSLA state title games.
For the Polar Bear girls, it’s an opportunity to repeat history and capture a second straight title. -
County to send 37 to state meet
In all, 37 Marion County athletes have earned the right to compete at the West Virginia state track meet on May 22-23 at the University of Charleston Stadium.
The top three finishers in each event during regional competition as well as the next four times from all regions combined qualify for the state meet. -
Flying high
When the chips were down for East Fairmont’s softball team the Bees came through with flying colors.
Madonna Gribble homered and drove in three runs and Nikki Nuzum kept the Polar Bears off balance on the mound as the Bees defeated Fairmont Senior Thursday in the Class AAA, Region I semifinal. -
Fairmont Senior wins sectional title
Fairmont Senior head coach Steve Naternicola was looking for his Polar Bear baseball team to get up for Thursday’s Region I, Section 3 championship game against North Marion.
The two teams split the first two games of the series, both of which were closely contested.
But it was a different story. - More Sports Central Headlines
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