Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

It was a special ride for Callaway High’s Wesley Marchman.

During his time at the school, Marchman helped the baseball team make two appearances in the state semifinals while winning a pair of region championships.

Marchman had hoped his senior year would produce some more memorable moments, but the story of the 2020 season will unfortunately never be finished.

The Cavaliers, along with all of the other spring-sports teams in the state, found out last week that the remainder of their seasons had been canceled because of the coronavirus threat.

While disappointed to see his senior season end the way it did, Marchman is grateful for the time he had as a Cavalier.

“I’ve loved it,” said Marchman, who was an infielder and pitcher during his time as a Cavalier. “Before I got to Callaway, I was kind of undecided on which high school to go to, and I told my parents I wanted to go to Callaway, and honestly it was a great decision. People who have moved from other schools to Callaway, they told me it was the best decision they’ve ever made. I’m just happy I stuck with them. I’m happy I chose Callaway, and I loved it there.”

One of Marchman’s shining moments as a Cavalier came in the quarterfinals of the 2018 state playoffs in a must-win game against Thomasville.

Callaway dropped the first game of the series, and Marchman pitched nine dominant innings in the second game to lead his team to a 2-1 victory.

Marchman held Thomasville to five hits and one unearned run with 11 strikeouts, and Callaway won the game with a run in the 10th inning before taking the series with a 9-6 win in game three.

Marchman threw again in the semifinals against Benedictine, and that was the last time he pitched for Callaway.

A nagging arm injury kept him off the mound last season, although his play at third base helped Callaway advance to the state semifinals for the second straight year.

Marchman hadn’t yet pitched this season, but that was about to change.

“I was just getting into the groove of pitching,” Marchman said. “I’ve been throwing bullpen, and I was going to get back into it. I was close. I was getting ready.”

While Marchman didn’t pitch last season, his contributions to a team that made a strong run at a state championship were nonetheless invaluable.

Marchman was strictly a hitter at the start of the 2019 season, but he eventually felt confident enough to play third base.

With Marchman doing his part, Callaway reached the state semifinals before losing a hard-fought series to Rockmart.

“You just appreciate what he did last year, even being able to come back and throw from third base,” said Callaway head coach Dusty Hubbard. “You could tell his arm was bothering him. When he started playing third last year, that’s when we changed as a team. Just being able to do that is just huge for your team, and you appreciate guys that put the team before themselves.”

Marchman was having a big senior season year as a shortstop and a critical member of the lineup when the season was halted.

Fortunately for Marchman, he’ll have more baseball to play. Marchman is going to get the opportunity to play college baseball, and he’s weighing his options.

“I’m still looking around at some places,” Marchman said. “This morning coach Hubbard gave me the coach’s number at (Chattahoochee Valley Community College), and there are some other smaller schools in Alabama that I’ve talked to, and also some schools in Georgia. I just haven’t made up my mind yet.”