If you walked into the John Marshall Softball Complex on Wednesday evening you could feel the intensity coming from the Monarchs’ dugout. You could tell John Marshall’s focus was on the game on hand. It wasn’t about what happened before, or what the future held, it was one task, beat Morgantown.
Senior pitcher, Kadence Pettit, took the pregame intensity directly to the mound fanning the first two Mohigan batters she faced. Morgantown was able to load the bases with two outs, but Pettit was able to get Kate Larimer to fly out to right field to end the threat.
Then cue the Monarch bats! With one out, Paytyn Tucker crushed her first ever home run over the center field fence. Junior, Ava Blake, was so impressed by her teammate’s homerun, she decided to add one of her own to give John Marshall a 2-0 lead after one.
Pettit pieced together a flawless top of the second inning striking out the side. John Marshall brought the home crowd back to their feet immediately as Kaylee White sent a deep fly ball that one hopped to the fence for a double. Carlee Yoho and Reese Ward each followed up with singles to load the bases. Freshman, Masyn Inclan, sent a line drive to left field to give the Monarchs a 3-0 lead.
West LIberty commit, Paytyn Tucker would not be denied on this night! Tucker followed up her first ever home run with a two-run double to score Yoho and Ward. The wheels continued to fall off for the Mohigans as Mo Wilson threw a wild pitch that scored Inclan to make it 6-0 for the hosts. Pettit headed to the dish with only one out. She made contact with the end of the bat and sent the ball down the first base line. Wilson tried to make a play on the ball, but at the last second went to pull away, but made contact with the ball to keep it fair. This play scored Tucker from third to extend the Monarch’s lead to 7-0!
Carlie Keyser drove a deep ball into right field, but it was deep enough for Blake to score from third for a sac fly to make it 8-0. The Monarchs batted around in the second inning and scored six runs on six hits.
After Morgantown’s Liz Alsop made it on base after an error the Monarch’s defense stood strong and was able to get the next three batters out. The Monarch’s still leading 8-0 were faced with two outs and no one on base.
Inclan and Tucker both were able to get on the bases with Blake coming up. Blake was another Monarch like most of her teammates that would not be denied. She crushed a two run triple to give John Marshall a 10-0 lead.
The fourth inning was scoreless and the Monarchs headed back onto the field for the top of the fifth inning with the mercy rule in effect. Just like she did in the second inning, Pettit retired the side on strikeouts to send John Marshall to next week’s Regional Series.
John Marshall rushed the field and were handed the Sectional Champions trophy. Pettit struck out eight Morgantown batters to take the win on the mound. Thundering Herd commit, Ava Blake went 2-2 with a home run, triple and three RBI’s. Paytyn Tucker added a home run, double and three RBI’s of her own, while Inclan added two singles. Kaylee White added a double and Yoho and Ward each added a single.
Another impressive stat for John Marshall was scoring 10 runs on 11 hits! John Marshall will hit the road on Monday to take on the Hawks of University High School in Game 1 of the Regional Championship Series.
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