First and Ben

 By Ben Anderson      Syracuse men’s soccer returns home when it welcomes the Le Moyne Dolphins at the Syracuse Soccer Complex on Saturday night.      Both teams are going through paths thus far in the season, the Orange sit 14th out of 15 in the ACC with a 5-3 record, 0-2 in conference play. The Dolphins are off to its best start through seven games since the 2021 season, sitting in second place in the NEC at 4-1-2.       Both teams are coming off dominating 3-0 victories, with SU taking down Colgate, and Le Moyne defeating Lafayette.       This marks the second matchup all-time between the crosstown rivalry. The Dolphins took the lone matchup in 2024, defeating the Orange 1-0.      The Orange last time out against Colgate, jumped ahead in the second half, outshooting the Raiders 15-9 including 9-4 in shots on goal.       In the Dolphins 3-0 victory over the Leopards, Felix Lud...

 By Ben Anderson      Morgantown athletics has the number for Cabell Midland on the diamond, whether it's softball or baseball. The No. 2 Mohigans baseball team brought the fire defense to take down No. 7 Cabell Midland Knights 2-0 Wednesday evening at the WVSSAC State Baseball Tournament Class AAAA Quarterfinals.      The Mohigans held the Knights to just five hits, and stranded five runners on base.       “Looks like we have three shortstops out on the infield.” Morgantown head coach Pat Sherald said. "I think athletically, our guys went and made some plays with Koa Silvers, Kai Higgins, and Brandon Gorby. And in the outfield, we went and got some balls in the gaps. It's a big ballpark for a high school game. So we don't typically play on big ball parts or big gaps like this and our outfielders are able to go get some balls in those situations."      Maddox Boggs was electric on the bump for Morgantown, going the di...

 By Ben Anderson      In the fourth meeting between No. 1 George Washington and No. 8 Huntington on the season, the Patriots defeated the Highlanders 6-1 behind the arm of senior Ty Nettles in the WVSSAC State Baseball Tournament Class AAAA Quarterfinals Wednesday afternoon.       The southpaw went 5 ⅔ innings of hitless baseball, allowing seven walks, and 10 strikeouts. The majority of his strikeouts came the first time through the order, striking out six of the first nine batters he faced.       “Kept working on the curveball,” Nettles said. “Got a lot of swings and misses and it was awesome.”      The win did not come easy for the Patriots, as it found itself in several jams with Huntington having runners on base, but the defense was always able to find a way to shut down the Highlanders, and strand 11 runners.       “I couldn't have done it without my defense,” Nettles said. “We provided s...

 By Ben Anderson      The Winfield Generals softball team launched its dynasty, winning its fourth consecutive WVSSAC State Softball title, defeating John Marshall 7-3 in 8 innings on Thursday afternoon in the WVSSAC Class AAA Softball State Championship game.      John Marshall entered the contest as the No. 1 seed, needing to defeat the No. 2 seeded Generals twice to capture the title, after defeating Herbert Hoover 7-4 earlier in the day.        The Lady Monarchs dominated the early portion of the game, especially in the circle with starting pitcher Ella Finley having a perfect game through the first 4.2 innings.       John Marshall exploded on offense in the bottom of the third, scoring all three of its runs on four hits. The party started with four straight base hits, including back-to-back singles from lead-off hitter Emma King at the nine spot to right field, and Nora Shock with an infield base hit an...

 By Ben Anderson      University senior Maddie Campbell delivered at the plate and in the circle, leading No. 2 University over No. 3 George Washington 3-0 on Thursday afternoon in the WVSSAC Class AAAA State Softball Tournament Semi-Finals.       Campbell went 2-3 at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI. She continued her strong performance in the circle going the full seven with four strikeouts while allowing seven hits.       Campbell started the offense for the Hawks in the bottom of the first, knocking an infield single. The Hawks then added the pressure onto George Washington starting pitcher Kynzi Bellamy, by getting a hit by pitch and two straight walks to bring home Campbell to take a 1-0 lead.       George Washington, despite outhitting University 7-3, was ice cold once it got runners on base. The Patriots had a base hit in every inning but stranded five on board including going 0-6 with runne...

 By Ben Anderson      No. 6 seeded Parkersburg South kept its season alive, eliminating the defending Class AAAA champion, Cabell Midland Knights 3-0, at Little Creek Park in Charleston, W. Va in an elimination game on Wednesday evening.       The Knights were coming off a 3-0 loss to Morgantown earlier in the morning.       Anniston Shelton delivered big for the Patriots starting at the plate. In the top of the first inning, she crushed a two-run moonshot into right field to give Parkersburg South a 2-0 lead.       She continued her dominance in the circle as well, going the distance allowing just one hit, with 11 strikeouts.       “Any pitcher that gets a couple of runs and you know that your stuff’s on and you know that you’re moving it and you’re hitting your spots, that gives huge confidence,” Parkersburg South head coach Tim Burch said. “Annie (Shelton) is definitely a bulldog when ...