PVC rivals Keyser, Petersburg end state tournament droughts

May 31—CHARLESTON, W.Va. — It's been a long time coming for a pair of area teams, but Keyser and Petersburg are headed back to the West Virginia state tournament.

Keyser (20-6) ended a 26-year drought when it defeated Oak Glen in a three-game regional series 2-1 to punch its ticket to the Class AA tournament for the fifth time.

You have to go back 37 years for the last time Petersburg made states, but the Vikings (19-9) made history by sweeping Doddridge County in their regional. It'll be their first Class A tourney appearance and fourth overall.

The Potomac Valley Conference duo will play semifinal games later this week. Petersburg, seeded No. 4 in Class A, faces top-seeded Tyler Consolidated on Thursday at 4:30 p.m., and No. 2 Keyser spars with No. 3 Shady Spring in the final game on Friday in Class AA.

All games will be played at GoMart Ballpark in Charleston, West Virginia.

"It means a lot for the team, school and city," Keyser head coach Scott Rohrbaugh said of making the state tournament. "Everybody has been really excited and supportive of everything."

Rohrbaugh, who has been the head coach of Keyser since 2007, nearly oversaw an end to the long drought last year, but the Golden Tornado fell in the Region I title game to Fairmont Senior.

Much of that team returned, and Keyser has been on a mission to take the next step. After a 4-4 start, the Golden Tornado won 16 of 18.

"That's what we've been working toward the whole time," Rohrbaugh said of getting to states. "It starts with trying to get kids playing, especially younger kids. And for the high school kids, get them playing in the summer to work on their skills. Different leagues, travel ball. We've been able to do that here."

Petersburg, meanwhile, is far less experienced, but the Vikings — who start six underclassmen — have grown up fast.

Following a rocky middle stretch of the year that saw the Grant County school lose 6 of 8 games, Petersburg ended the year winning 11 of 12.

With a pair of victories over a good East Hardy (17-12) squad, 5-3 and 7-6, and two dominant wins over Region II top seed Doddridge County (24-10) by a margin of 22-1, Petersburg is dancing once again.

"It means a lot to these young kids we have (to make states)," said Petersburg head coach Mike Landis, who has been an assistant since 2010 and the head man since 2015.

The last Petersburg team to make states in 1986 won the championship — a unit that longtime Vikings softball coach Bubba Hedrick played on.

Petersburg and Keyser make it three area schools to advance to the state semifinals this year, joining Northern, who made the Maryland Class 1A Final Four.

Allegany made it to the state semifinals last season, and Frankfort has had multiple teams in the last decade contend for championships under Matt Miller, most recently falling in the 2019 title game.

With a wide variety of solid area teams this year — seven schools finished with a winning record — it comes as little surprise the area has solid state representation.

"The PVC has teams that have had a lot of success, maybe not a lot of state championships, but I think it shows how competitive it is," Landis said.

"I even look at the Maryland side. I know (Northern head coach) Phil Carr and coach (Jon) Irons at Allegany have had a lot of success. Baseball in the whole area is competitive."

The last time Keyser made the state tournament in 1997, it lost in the first round to Oceana, 9-1.

It's only Keyser's second trip to states since winning the state championship in 1969 back when there were no classifications and it was held at Bennett Stump Field in Parkersburg.

The 1967 team capped an unbeaten season with a championship for the school's other title. Both the '67 and '69 Tornado squads beat East Bank in the championship game.

Petersburg has made the state tournament just three other times; however, on all three occasions, it advanced to the championship game, winning two Class AA crowns.

The 1986 team beat Wayne, 13-2, in the title game, and the 1980 squad toppled Buffalo-Putnam, 5-3, at the same stage.

Petersburg's only loss at the state tournament came in 1976 when it fell to Vinson, 8-1, in the Class AA championship game.

It may have been a long time since either school has made the tournament, but both squads believe they are capable of capturing a third title in program history.

They ended one drought, what's one more?

"I'm really happy for Petersburg," Rohrbaugh said. "We've played each other a lot in the last few years, battling. It's a good thing for the PVC and this whole area, having two teams from within 30 miles going to states."

Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.