BLACKSVILLE — Almost everything you see with Abbey Ammons tells you she’s a natural leadoff hitter.
She is not big in stature, but built perfectly for a rangy middle infielder.
Her patience, ability to get on base, speed and smart baserunning are all skills of the classic leadoff hitter.
And then the Clay-Battelle senior shortstop hits the ball and all bets are off.
“When other teams see me, they probably see me as someone just leading off,” Ammons said May 3, after the Cee-Bees captured the Class A Region II, Section 1 softball championship with a 12-3 victory over Gilmer County. “I probably catch teams off guard some.”
C-B (19-3) advances to play in the Region II final. The Cee-Bees will play a best-of-three series against Moorefield, which beat East Hardy, 8-0, Thursday.
The first game will be at Moorefield, on May 14, with the second game scheduled at Clay-Battelle the following day.
A third game — if needed — would return to Moorefield. The winner of the series advances to the state tourney.
Ammons’ base hits are not simple bloopers that fall just out of reach for the second baseman. Ammons’ ground balls do not just skid by the reach of a diving shortstop.
She hits gap shots and powerful fly balls that one-hop the left field fence.
Ammons’ first swing against Gilmer gave the Titans left fielder — who was already playing a step deep to begin with — no chance.
She cruised in for a triple and later scored on Rylee Burnette’s single.
She added an inside-the-park home run that was a line drive to the left-center gap. The ball rolled through the outfield grass as if it were on Astroturf.
Ammons was already heading for third by the time Gilmer’s outfielders made it to the ball.
“We could easily bat her cleanup,” C-B head coach Butch Varner said. “People ask me all the time why we don’t. It’s simple: We bat her first so she can get as many at-bats as possible.”
A year from now, Ammons will be playing at Fairmont State — “I think you’re going to be hearing a lot of good things about her at Fairmont,” Varner said — but for now she’s putting together a senior season that isn’t half bad.
That is a play on words, because she’s batting an impressive .500 this season.
Ammons was 2-for-4 against Gilmer with the triple and a home run.
She scored twice and drove in two.
“I guess I’ve always been able to hit,” she said. “I work a lot with Nikki Nuzum (at Pro PerformanceRx). She’s helped me out so much.”
The Cee-Bees broke the game open in the third inning. Tied, 3-3, C-B scored eight runs in a rally that included triples from Caitlyn Kassay and Hannah Hall, as well as Ammons’ home run.
It’s the first sectional title for the Cee-Bees since Ammons was a freshman.
“This team is fun to play for because we all work together, and I think we have the potential to go far,” Ammons said. “Coach has told us we still haven’t done anything. We need five wins to get to states and we’ve only got three so far.”
Kassay picked up the win on the mound. In five innings, she struck out 11 and allowed two hits. Only one of her three runs allowed was earned.
Hall added a double and drove in three runs, while teammate Alicia Keener had two hits and two RBIs.
BASEBALL
University 13, Parkersburg South 3: The Hawks (15-8) slugged five homers — two each by Ross Mulhall and Hunter Cottreell and one by Chandler Watts — in the win at Mylan Park.
Mulhall drove in five runs, Watts three and Cottrell two. Twin freshman brothers Casey and Ethan Smith shared the pitching duties and held the Patriots to four hits.
UHS plays George Washington at 5:30 p.m. today, as part of a high school triple-header at Mon County Ballpark.
TRACK AND FIELD
Morgantown High provided a list of its qualifiers for the all-class finals of the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference meet, Saturday, at St. Clairsville, Ohio:
GIRLS
100: Elise Sizick.
200: Justice Washington.
400: Amber Dombrowski.
800: Myah McAlister.
1600: Samantha Hatcher, Amelia Haddox.
3200: Avigail Radabaugh.
4×100: Kelsey Riley, Angela Ejimofor, Justice Washington, Elise Sizick.
4×200: Kelsey Riley, Angela Ejimofor, Elise Sizick, Justice Washington.
4×400: Aleena McDaniel, Myah McAlister, Samantha Hatcher, Amber Dombrowski.
4×800: Amber Dombrowski, Myah McAlister, Aleena McDaniel, Samantha Hatcher.
4×100 shuttle hurdle: Kelsey Riley, Elise Sizick, Alex Hagood, Angela Ejimofor.
Long jump: Justice Washington.
BOYS
100: Alajuan Robinson.
200: Alajuan Robinson.
400: Timothy Johnson.
800: Tyrique Stone.
1600: Andrew Christy.
3200: Michael Hoefler, Mikael Virji.
110 hurdles: Azim Turakhonov.
300 hurdles: Azim Turakhonov, Gabe Stover.
4×100: Amr Aboraya, John Weihman, Kirk Black, Gabe Stover.
4×200: Aaron Alvarez, Azim Turakhonov, Gabe Stover, Kirk Black.
4×400: Patrick Griffith, Amr Aboraya, Andrew Riley, Timothy Johnson.
4×800: Andrew Riley, Gideon Temple, Vein Donnelly, Ben Peters.
4×110 shuttle hurdle: Azim Turakhonov, Garrett Mayhew, John Weihman, Cameron Johnson.
High jump: Brendan Jones.
Shot put: Tre Barnes.
Pole vault: Tre Tarantini.
Discus: Chase Wisman.
Long jump: Gabe Stover, Kaden Rice.
GIRLS’ LACROSSE
University 8, George Washington 2: Mackenzie Slavensky and Jordyn Snider each scored two goals to lead the Hawks. Olivia Wills and Mallory Napolillo each tallied a goal and an assist, and Morgan Crocco and Sophie Armstrong each scored once. UHS goalie Riley Phares made 13 saves.
JV GIRLS’ LACROSSE
University 7, George Washington 2: Cassie Osborne netted a goal and two assists, Chasity Louk and Olivia Quarrick each scored twice, and Emily McCabe had a goal and an assist for UHS. Goalie Abigail Cottrell stopped five shots.
