HURRICANE, W.Va. — In the first of what could be multiple meetings this season, Class AAAA No. 2 Hurricane bested No. 1 Cabell Midland, 4-1 in a battle of one-loss teams.
Hurricane collected all the offense they would need in the first three innings and junior pitcher Kate Justice made the lead hold up for the homestanding Redskins. Justice went the distance in the circle for Hurricane. She allowed five hits and struck out 13 batters without walking one.
“Kate’s control was great. We had a good game plan before going in. I thought she executed it really well. They have some great hitters. We kept it in on their hands and she was able to keep them in check. I am really proud of her,” said Hurricane head coach Meghan Stevens.
“She is pretty efficient. She has really, really grown. She likes to work quick and she hit her spots today.”
Hurricane opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning with a run-scoring single from Kyndall Harper. Kylie Bailey scored to give the Redskins a 1-0 lead.
Cabell Midland (7-2) pulled even in the top of the third inning. Nicole Harris’ RBI double off the fence in left field allowed Kalissa Hess to score for the Knights.
Hurricane regained the lead in the bottom of the inning. Harper sent Bailey to the plate a second time with a run-scoring groundout to give the Redskins a 2-1 advantage.
The Redskins opened the game up in the fourth inning when Hadley Lawson connected for a two-run home run.
“She has had some power this year. She leads us in home runs. And that was a big one, huge momentum for us.”
Hurricane (10-1) remained unbeaten against in-state opponents and they have allowed four runs or less in all ten of their victories.
“I am really proud of their growth. They have really grown in their maturity and leadership. They just stayed calm and showed some really, really important things.
“I felt like they took care of business. They did what they needed to do. But we can still play a lot better than we did today.”
Cabell Midland and Hurricane are Mountain State Athletic Conference and Class AAAA Region IV rivals.
Audrea Watts pitched 5 2/3 innings for the Knights. She struck out a dozen batters. Becca Conrad and Baylee Smith each had a pair of hits for CMHS. Lawson collected two hits for the Redskins.