FRANKLIN, W.Va. — Top-ranked Pendleton County received a pair of impressive pitching performances and they scored in eight of their ten innings at the plate in a doubleheader sweep of Tucker County to claim the Class A Region II title. The Wildcats defeated the Mountain Lions 9-1 in six innings and 13-0 in five innings to secure a spot in next week’s state tournament.
Pendleton (29-2) will play at the state level for the first time since 2015.
In Game 1, Pendleton led 3-1 in the fifth inning before they broke the game open with a five-run frame. The Wildcats added another run in the sixth to put the run rule in effect. Five of their seven hits in the opener came in the final two innings.
“One thing about our team is that we will battle,” said Pendleton County head coach Eric Crites. “We don’t always get off to a great start but it really doesn’t mean much to us. We’ve got six seniors on our team and a lot of young kids that came up this year and they have really helped. But our seniors have been in positions like this to be able to come back and battle. They did that tonight.”
Susan Vincell pitched five innings of relief in the opener. She allowed just three hits and struck out nine batters.
In the nightcap, the Wildcats scored multiple runs in all four of their innings at the plate. Baylee Beachler went the distance in the circle. She allowed one hit and struck out 13 batters. Crites says having a pair of quality pitchers will be an advantage at the state tournament, playing multiple games each day.
“There’s something about having that ability to go lefty-righty, lefty-righty and try to do some matchups.”
Several Wildcats had multiple hits in the doubleheader. Avery Townsend reached base in seven of her eight plate appearances. She had five hits, including an inside-the-park home run in Game 1. Beachler had three hits and scored three runs. Jenna Smith had three hits and an inside-the-park home run. Marleigh Moyers also added an inside-the-park homer in Game 2.
Pendleton is unbeaten against Class A opponents this season and they have won eight consecutive games. Their two losses are to fellow state tournament qualifiers, Frankfort and Petersburg.
“Once we got rolling there and we started hitting the Bub Riggleman Tournament at Moorefield, we played Hedgesville twice. We played Spring Mills. We played Keyser. So we had a lot of Triple-A and Quad-A teams on our schedule. I think that really helped us.”
The Wildcats will face Trinity in the opening game of the Class A state tournament in South Charleston on May 28.
“This group of kids was able to get [to state] in volleyball. They were able to get there in basketball. Now they are able to get there in softball. It means so much to them. I am one of the luckiest guys in the world because I have a great group of kids that know how to play softball and gives you 110% every time.”
Peyton Hicks had two of the four hits for Tucker County (11-13) in the doubleheader.