HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL: Wilson, Indians One Win Away From State Championship

RADFORD, Va. – J.J. Kelly High School pitcher Justin Wilson had anxiously awaited for 12 months, endured several sleepless nights and made a promise to himself to get the job done in anticipation of stepping on the mound Friday afternoon at Radford University.

Once there, he turned in the most impressive performance of his career.

Wilson struck out eight and carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning to lead J.J. Kelly to a 15-1 win over Luray in the semifinals of the Virginia High School League Group A state baseball tournament.

The Indians (23-4) will play Essex, a 12-1 winner over James River in Friday’s first semifinal, at 10 a.m. today for the state championship.

Friday’s semifinal victory equaled redemption for Wilson. He started and suffered the loss in Kelly’s 14-4 setback to Strasburg in last season’s state semifinals.

He was determined to not let a similar scenario unfold.

“I didn’t want to lose again, because that’s the worst feeling you’ll ever have,” Wilson said. “Last year it went bad. I couldn’t throw strikes and didn’t have anything working … I have the [newspaper] article where we lost last year at home. I looked at that before I came up here. I didn’t want to lose the ballgame.”

Wilson not only had to overcome a Luray lineup that had rolled through the Shenandoah District and Region B, but also the mid-90 degree heat that was beating down on the New River Valley.

He found shade under a nearby tree during Friday’s first semifinal game and then went out and cooled off the Bulldogs’ bats.

“We started talking back in July, about him being a little mentally tougher,” J.J. Kelly coach David Wyrick said. “He let some things bother him last year up here. Coming out today, he just focused on taking it one pitch at a time. He did a tremendous job and I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

Wilson struck out seven of the first eight hitters he faced and worked ahead in the count all day. He didn’t allow a hit until Jeremy Leake’s single to lead off the bottom of the seventh.

“He was amazing,” Kelly catcher Griffin Kopp said. “He hit all his spots. He did a great job.”

To say that Wilson benefited from generous run support would be an understatement. By the time Luray (26-2) got its first baserunner on in the fifth inning, Kelly had already rapped out 12 hits and led 8-0.

Kopp led the way with a 4-for-5 performance, pounding a pair of doubles and driving in three runs. Matt Dotson, Cody Bentley and Devan Sproles added three hits apiece to key Kelly’s 22-hit attack.

“I saw the ball well and just tried to keep my hands inside the ball,” Kopp said. “I got down and I got two strikes on me a few times. I just battled and tried to get it done. … It was a great feeling.”

Luray broke up Wilson’s shutout with two outs in the seventh as Leake scored on Brad Painter’s RBI single. By that time, it was a lost cause for Luray.

“I told the kids it just wasn’t our day,” Luray coach Steve Griffith said. “We’ve had 26 good days and today wasn’t our day. It seemed every ball they hit was either hit hard or just out of our reach. It was just one of those days.”

The day Kelly has been waiting for comes this morning when the Indians aim for the ninth state title in program history.

“We’ve talked about it since we were freshmen,” Kopp said. “We finally made it.”

J.J. Kelly 024 205 2—15 22 2
Luray 000 000 1—1 3 2
Wilson and Kopp. Leake, Galindez (3), Bell (6), Carroll (7) and Foley. W—Wilson (6-1). L—Leake. HR—none.

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