Thursday, June 12, 2014
The
Volume 145 Issue 23 50 Cents
Putnam Standard
On top of the world
Hurricane High School defeated Washington and Riverside in the state baseball tournament to clinch its first title since 2002. Photo by Jack Withrow.
Hurricane wins first state baseball title since 2002 By Matt Gajtka matt@theputnamstandard.com
CHARLESTON – For the Hurricane baseball team, a welcome breakthrough in the regional round became a championship breakout in the state tournament. After edging Cabell Midland and blowing out Nitro to win an elusive Region 4 trophy, the Red-
skins followed that same pattern at Appalachian Power Park, dispatching Washington in the Class AAA semifinal and Riverside in the final to earn the program’s second title. Hurricane didn’t so much defeat its five postseason opponents as it suffocated them, allowing five total runs in six games on its way to duplicating what only the 2002 squad had accomplished in school
history. “We came out here and showed everyone we’re the best team in the state,” junior catcher Tate Brock said. “Coming into this season we had a lot of people who didn’t think we would make it out of regionals, so we had a lot of motivation. “We wanted to come out here and show everyone what we’re made of.”
Hurricane’s 9-2 triumph over surprising Riverside on a sunny, hot Saturday afternoon may have put an exclamation point on its triumphant spring, but the relative ease of the victory contrasted with the difficult route needed to reach that point. Although the Redskins (29-7) were ranked at or near the top of the Class AAA poll all season, getting
past 2013 state-runner up Midland and red-hot Washington (23-5) proved to be high hurdles indeed. “For as good of a group as we had, we could just as easily not be here,” said sixth-year Hurricane coach Bryan Sutphin. “They were doubted all year, and I think that helped them. They were hungry. See HURRICANE, Page 8
Commission upholds zoning decision, approves costs By Kelly Stadelman kelly@theputnamstandard.com Putnam County commissioners upheld the recommendations of the planning commission by approving an amended sign ordinance and rejecting a zoning application for the Teays Valley area. Commissioners also added $115,000 in savings to the county’s budget by changing
insurance providers. During Tuesday’s meeting commissioners unanimously approved Brickstreet’s bid via Payne & Garlow of $263,542 to provide workers compensation to county workers. They also approved becoming a member of the West Virginia Counties Risk Pool and accepting the bid of $221,359 for property and casualty insurance. Brian Donat, county manager, said the
monetary savings resulted because the county received multiple proposals. “We solicited more proposals this year in hopes of reducing our costs,” Donat said. “It is less than years past.” Commissioner Andy Skidmore said via telephone that while there was a difference in pricing with property and casualty quotes between the different proposals, the workers compensation cost portion was similar.
“I’ve looked at it as two separate parts, property and casualty and workers comp,” Skidmore said. “For coverage wise and pricing I don’t see why there is any reason why we cannot go with the county risk pool. I didn’t see any difference in the workers comp part with Payne & Garlow and the risk pool.” Commissioner Joe Haynes said it wasn’t
Inside n Eleanor Homestead Days Schedule, page 3
See COUNTY, Page 4