The Sectional Championship was on the line on a beautiful Tuesday evening in Glen Dale. Morgantown headed into the game facing elimination. It was John Marshall that took center stage in the first two innings. Senior, Kadence Pettit toed the mound and struck out four of the first seven batters she faced.
The game was tied heading into the bottom of the second inning. Alexis Thayer lined a ball into left center field for a double. Paytyn Tucker laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Thayer to third. A few pitches later, Thayer slid safely into home after a passed ball to give John Marshall a 1-0 lead.
However, the lead wouldn’t last long as Ann and Beth Robinson both singled to start the third inning. Liz Alsop crushed a line drive into center field to score Ann Robinson to tie the game at one. After a Grace Robinson flyout, Emily Peterson added a double of her own, scoring Beth Robinson and Alsop to give the Mohigans a 3-1 lead. Cleanup batter Mo Wilson cleared the right-center field fence on the next at bat to extend the lead for Morgantown to 5-1.
Pettit was able to fan Morgantown’s Abigail Harkin to get the second out. After a Kate Larimer single, Pettit was able to stop the bleeding for the Monarchs by getting Maddie Wisman to fly out to right field. John Marshall showed signs of life in the 3rd inning loading the bases but Mohigan pitcher, Mo WIlson, was able to strikeout Tucker with the bases loaded.
Morgantown saw themselves in a similar situation in the top of the 4th inning. However, Kadence Pettit was able to get Peterson and Wilson to go down on strikes to end the top of the inning with Morgantown still leading 5-1.
AC Cumberledge was hit by a pitch, who was 1 of 4 Monarchs that were hit by a pitch yesterday, and then pinch hitter Carlie Keyser was put on base after a walk. With two runners on and only one out, leadoff hitter Masyn Inclan came up to the plate and ripped a line drive towards center field. After an adjustment by the center fielder to make the catch, Cumberledge was doubled off of second to stop the Monarchs threat.
The John Marshall defense held Morgantown in a 1-2-3 top of the 5th inning. Pettit helped her own cause by singling in Kayleigh Stauffer and then advancing to second on the throw. Paytyn Tucker ripped a solid line drive into right center with two outs to score Pettit and cut the deficit to 5-3.
Heading into the Top of the 6th, The Mohigans first three batters that made the trip to the plate, made it on base, on a single and two walks. Pettit was able to settle in and strike out the next two batters, but just when you thought the Monarchs could escape unharmed, Mo Wilson was hit by a Pettit pitch to allow the sixth run to cross the plate for the Mohigans and give the visitors a 6-3 lead. Harkin was able to find a gap on the ride side, sending a hard ground ball into the outfield and extending the Morgantown lead to 8-3.
Pettit was able to strike out Wisman to end the inning. With John Marshall at bat and two outs in the inning Pettit was able to draw the walk with the bases loaded to make the score 8-4. Thayer headed to the plate with bases loaded and two outs, but it was Wilson who was able to gain the upper hand and strike out Thayer to take us to the seventh inning with Morgantown hanging on to an 8-4 lead.
After a Beth Robinson double, Alsop was able to single to score Robinson to extend their lead to 9-4. John Marshall headed into the bottom of the seventh in a do-or-die situation. Wilson was able to sit down all Monarch batters to give Morgantown the victory and force a deciding game tomorrow night at 5:30 at John Marshall.
Wilson took the win on the mound for the Mohigans with 10 strikeouts and added a homerun and 2 RBI’s at the dish. Alsop went 3-4 on the evening with two doubles, a single and two RBIs. Peterson finished the evening with 2 RBI’s as well going 2-5 with a double and single. Harkin added 2 RBI’s of her own going 1-5 with a single.
Pettit took the loss in the circle for John Marshall, however, looked extremely strong fanning 13 batters. She also was impressive at the plate adding 2 RBIs on a single going 1-3. Tucker added a sacrifice bunt, a single, RBI and stolen base on the evening. Both teams had trouble stranding runners as the Mohigans left 11 runners on base to John Marshall’s 10.
Morgantown outhit the Monarchs 12-8. These two teams will battle it out once again for the Sectional Crown Wednesday at 5:30. Be sure to stay tuned to Ohio Valley Athletics for full coverage of the Championship Game.
Discussion about this post