Senior Year Has Already Been One to Remember for Bridgeport's Owen Sondericker
By Michael Minnich on April 12, 2026
It’s early in Owen Sondericker’s senior year, but he has already put up a season’s worth of good performances.
Sondericker singled and scored in the opener against Preston, then went 3-for-4 with a triple and three runs in an extra-inning loss to Cabell Midland.
He pulled double duty in the 5-0 win over PikeView, throwing a four-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts and zero walks.
“My fastball was working well,” Sondericker said. “I was locating it on the outside corner and my curveball was fooling them a lot. I was getting that low and in the dirt, fooling them for strike 3. The slider worked well, just to get that first pitch off-speed and let them see it.”
He also drove in a run and scored one in the victory, which came at Marshall University’s new ballpark that will also host the state tournament.
“It gave me a lot of confidence. Turf field, perfect hops, big field, easy fly balls, big batter’s eye. It was a beautiful field,” Sondericker said.
A single and two runs followed the next day against Herbert Hoover.
“PikeView is going to be a team we're going to see probably in the state tournament. And then playing Cabell Midland, a AAAA school, and then even playing Herbert Hoover, who we're probably might see in the state championship again, just seeing these teams, seeing their pitchers, it's going to really help us out a lot.” Sondericker said.
Then he had another triple in a monster game against Lewis County, going 3-for-4 with three runs and four RBIs while also walking twice.
A double highlighted a 2-for-4 day with a run and two RBIs against Philip Barbour, then he singled and scored in a loss to Robert C. Byrd.
All that success came from getting back to the basics.
“I just simplified my approach,” Sondericker said. “See the ball, hit the ball, just relax. It’ s my senior year. I’m going out there and having fun. I’m focused on playing for the team.”
Bridgeport, by design, takes the first part of the season off and plays virtually every day after that, making it easy to stay In a groove.
“I’m seeing pitches constantly, curveballs, off-speed. In practices, you can’t really do that because you can’t go live with games coming up. Being live, facing those better arms with our tough schedule, it really helps a lot,” Sondericker said.
It’s the last dance for Bridgeport’s small but talented senior class.
“We’ve been together since we were 12 and we’ve always known each other,” Sondericker said. “We’ve been good friends. We’ve picked each other up.”
The goal is to finish in Huntington and bring Bridgeport back to the state tournament for the first time since 2022.
“We’re very motivated. We want to get there. We want to compete. We want to win,” Sondericker said. “Everyone’s hungry for it.”
