Photo by Kim North Shadyside catcher Ben Wach steps on home plate to force out Wheeling Central’s Hunter Mueller (16) during Thursday’s game at Fleming Field in Shadyside. The Maroon Knights improved to 11-1 with a 15-0 rout in five innings.

SHADYSIDE — With the sting of just missing the W.Va. Class A state baseball tournament last May still fresh on their minds, the Wheeling Central baseball team is using that as momentum for this season.

So far, so good as the state-ranked Maroon Knights (11-1) cruised to a 15-0 victory over homestanding Shadyside on the sun-baked Fleming Field diamond. Wheeling Central entered the week at No. 3 but own a win over No. 1 Williamstown.

“Pitching and defense is always going to be our m-o,” explained first-year Wheeling Central head coach Todd Cover. “Landon went out and had command of his curveball early. That was a big key. When you pitch like that and field the ball, that’s how we’re going to play.

“We got a couple of timely hits and they made some mistakes that we took advantage of,” Cover added. “I didn’t expect to comed in here and win by that large of a score because Shadysidee has a good team and a good tradition, but we’ll take it and move on.”

Wheeling Central built a 4-0 lead after three innings, with all of its runs unearned as Shadyside committed three of its five errors. Three Tiger pitchers issued 10 walks and hit a batter.

“These guys, and there quite a few of them, from last year have been working really hard to try and erase that memory,” Coach Cover noted. “They’ve been lifting weights since November. They are dedicated and deserve everything they get.”

A five-run fourth was keyed by Seth Cover’s two-run, two-out base hit, while Gary Hatfield’s bases-clearing double highlighted a five-run outburst in the fifth that sealed the deal.

All the while, righthander Landon Prager was keeping the Tigers off the bases and the scoreboard. He struck out half-a-dozen, walked just one and scattered five hits, three of which were of the infield variety. He threw 79 pitches, with 50 being strikes.

“He is one of our starting five. We feel like we have five guys that we can send out there every day and count on them to get the job done,” Coach Cover said of Prager. “Pitching, knock on wood, should be one of our strengths. Landon is a senior. He’s been around the block and when he lands his curveball like that, he can be tough like he was today.”

Braxton Billick singled twice and drove in a run.

Wheeling Central will compete in the Hurricane Tournament this week in Ona. It plays Greenbrier East today and Independence and Buffalo on Saturday. Buffalo is ranked No. 9 in Class A.

Shadyside’s Jason Collins was not pleased with his team’s performance.

“You can’t make the mistakes like we did against a good team like Wheeling Central,” he noted. “We need to make the routine plays. When you don’t do that they will continue to run the bases,” Collins said. “We’re still in the driver’s set as far as qualifying for the OVAC Tournament, so we have to take care of business.”

The Tigers remain home today as Barnesville visits. They host Bridgeport in a pair on Saturday.