Photo Provided Wheeling Central's Koy Lipinski celebrates with his teammates following the Maroon Knights' 2-1 victory over James Monroe on Monday inside Marshall's Jack Cook Field.

HUNTINGTON — It was a walkoff that sent Wheeling Central to the WVSSAC Class AA state semifinals on Monday inside Marshall University’s Jack Cook Field– but far from a home run, it was a walkoff infield popup that sent the No. 1 Maroon Knights over No. 8 James Monroe Mavericks, 2-1.

With bases loaded, two outs and a full count in the bottom of the seventh, Central’s Brady Ernest hit a sky-high pop fly, and though Maverick defenders circled the ball as it hung up in the air, it ended up unimpeded in its descent down to the turf, securing Central a nail-biting quarterfinals victory.

Matt Criniti scored the game-winning run for the Maroon.

“I think they’re motivated now,” Wheeling Central head coach Todd Cover said. “Getting this one out of the way, hopefully we can come back Thursday and play a little better.”

Central’s Brayden Cover and James Monroe’s Kadyn Hines dueled to a scoreless tie through four innings, but the Mavericks’ Brody Barreras shot an RBI single to put a run on the board in the top of the fifth.

Hines, a West Virginia University commit, held Wheeling Central without a hit until the bottom of the sixth when Kade Koroneos ripped a triple to score Zayne Rosnick, who had reached on an error. James Monroe committed five errors Monday.

“We knew it was going to be a challenge. [Hines] is really good,” Cover said. “He is committed to a Power-Four. We knew runs were going to be at a premium. Luckily, we were able to hold them to one and we were able to scratch one across in the seventh. It was a good win.”

Cover, an Akron commit, passed pitching duties to Mercyhurst commit Steven Brodegard for the sixth and the seventh innings. Cover punched out a dozen batters and Brodegard struck out two.

“I thought Brayden threw really well for us,” Cover said. “I think he ran out of gas a little bit in the sixth. We were able to bring in Steven for the last two. Pitching and defense have been our MO the whole year. We’ll continue to try to ride it.”

Wheeling Central now awaits No. 4 Logan for their state semifinal game on Thursday at 5 p.m.