Moorefield trio heads All-Area team

Thorne, Sites, Hibbard led Yellow Jackets to state title; five repeat on first team

Mike Mathews

CUMBERLAND — Josh Thorne, Trevor Sites and Shawn Hibbard, who helped power Moorefield to the West Virginia Class A state championship, head this year’s Cumberland Times-News All-Area baseball team, selected recently by area head coaches.

Moorefield and Appalachian Mountain Athletic League champion Northern had six of the 14 players on the first team. Joining the Moorefield trio on the first team were Trey Beasom, Brandon Beachy and Daniel Warnick of Northern, Corey Helbig and Nathan King of Southern, Cody Ellsworth and Sean Collette of Allegany, Jeff Conley of Frankfort, area batting champion Shane Torbet of Hyndman, Josh Neilson of Mountain Ridge, and Danny Boone of Pendleton.

Beasom, who was featured in Friday’s Times-News as the Skip Cook Memorial Player of the Year, is the captain of this year’s All-Area team.

Beasom, Warnick, Ellsworth, Collette and Sites were voted to the first team for the second year in a row.

Area head coaches were requested to nominate players from their teams to appear on an All-Area ballot, then used the completed ballot to select the All-Area team. Thirteen of the 14 coaches (93 percent) who nominated players returned their ballots.

Pitchers

• Josh Thorne, just a sophomore, had a huge season on the mound for the Yellow Jackets, who went 24-6 overall and beat Man 9-3 to claim the school’s second state championship. The other was in 2002.

Thorne led the team and was second in the area in victories, going 8-2. He pitched a team-high 54 innings, allowed only 13 earned runs, walked 20 and struck out 59. His 1.69 earned run average was third best in the area, and he was sixth in strikeouts with an average of 7.6 per game.

As a batter, Thorne hit .273 (12 for 44) with 10 runs and four RBIs.

• Cody Ellsworth, a senior left-hander, had a big season both on the hill and at the plate for Cumberland City League champion Allegany.

Ellsworth went 3-2 with one save and a 2.59 earned run average. In 32 1-3 innings, he allowed only 20 hits, walked 22 and struck out 57 — for an area-leading 12.3 strikeouts per game. His ERA was the sixth lowest in the area.

At the plate, Ellsworth batted .373 (19 for 51) with 18 runs, four doubles, three home runs and 12 RBIs. He also stole a team-high 10 bases.

Catcher

Corey Helbig, a sophomore at Southern, helped spark the Rams to a 12-3 season that included second place in the Appalachian Mountain Athletic Conference.

Helbig batted .431, getting 22 hits in 51 at-bats. He scored a team-high 21 runs, shared the team lead with six doubles and 17 RBIs, and belted a pair of home runs.

Infielders

• Southern’s Nathan King, a junior, was the leading votegetter among the first-team infielders.

King led the Rams in batting, getting 25 hits in 55 at-bats for a .455 average. He also scored 14 runs and shared the team lead with Helbig with six doubles and 17 RBIs. He also hit two homers.

King was one of only three area pitchers with at least four wins to go undefeated. He was 5-0 with a 3.16 ERA with just 10 walks and 38 strikeouts in 31 innings pitched.

• Sean Collette, a senior at Allegany, led the Campers in just about every offensive category, including at-bats, hits, doubles, home runs, batting average, and on-base and slugging percentage.

Collette had 24 hits in 56 at-bats, with seven doubles and four home runs. He also scored 21 runs and knocked in 14, while hitting .429, slugging .768 and running up a .467 on-base percentage.

Collete was also 2-0 with a 3.31 ERA as a pitcher with 18 strikeouts in 12 2-3 innings.

• Jeff Conley, a junior first baseman, was a key to the success at Frankfort, which went 11-9.

Conley led the Falcons in hitting with a .433 batting average and was also tops with a .767 slugging percentage. He hit a team-high four triples, shared the team lead with six doubles, and drove in 15 runs. Conley, who had seven stolen bases, was also a solid defensive player with a .990 fielding percentage.

• Brandon Beachy, a senior and at Northern who has played on the last two Area championship teams, excelled at the plate and on the mound for the Huskies.

At the plate, Beachy batted .393 with 22 hits in 56 at-bats, with five doubles and one home run. He scored 11 runs, knocked in 12 and had a .443 on-base percentage.

As a pitcher, Beachy went 3-2 with a save and a 3.11 ERA. In 36 innings he walked 13 and struck out 38.

• Shane Torbet, a senior second baseman at Hyndman, was the area batting champion, smacking 25 hits in 45 at-bats for a .555 average. With 13 bases on balls, he posted a .644 on-base percentage.

Torbet hit three doubles, one triple and three home runs and had a team-leading 22 RBIs for the Hornets. A solid defensive player as well, Torbet also was named to the Pennsylvania Sideling Hill League first team.

Outfielders

• Daniel Warnick, a senior at Northern, helped lead the Huskies to a 54-6 record over the last three seasons.

This year, Warnick was among the leaders in just about every offensive category, and had team highs with 59 at-bats, 23 runs scored, seven stolen bases and one triple. He also had five doubles and three home runs among his 21 hits for a .356 batting average, a .449 on-base percentage and a .627 slugging percentage.

Warnick did not commit an error in the field, finishing with 20 putouts and one assist.

• Danny Boone, a senior at Pendleton County, batted .450 with 18 runs batted in leading the Wildcats to a sectional championship. He struck out only once in 54 at-bats.

• Josh Neilson, a senior at Mountain Ridge, batted .384 with 15 hits in 39 at-bats, including a team-high five doubles. He also had 12 RBIs and led the Miners with eight stolen bases.

Neilson also went 2-0 with a 1.69 earned run average in helping lead the Mountain Ridge pitching staff.

• Trevor Sites, a junior and one of 13 underclassmen on the Moorefield state championship team, rapped out 34 hits in 92 at-bats for a .370 average. He also hit nine doubles, two triples and three home runs, scored 32 runs and had 35 RBIs, including three in the state championship game. He had a .478 on-base percentage and a .608 slugging percentage.

Sites also was 1-1 with an area-leading four saves and a 3.21 ERA as a pitcher. He worked 19 2-3 innings, allowed 15 hits, walked 11 and struck out 25.

Designated hitter

• Shawn Hibbard, a senior designated hitter and pitcher at Moorefield, batted .417 with 30 hits in 72 at-bats. He hit five doubles and two homers, scored 16 runs and had 20 RBIs, including two on a double that helped seal the state championship game win over Man.

As a pitcher, Hibbard was 4-0 with a 3.90 ERA. He hurled 32 2-3 innings, walked 12 and struck out 31.

Mike Mathews is a Cumberland Times-News sportswriter. Contact Mike Mathews at mmathews@times-news.com.