BY KYLE LUTZ | The Wheeling Intelligencer
GLEN DALE, W.Va. — John Marshall softball coach Ed West thought his 2020 squad had a chance to make a good run. However, with the Coronavirus, he wasn’t able to see what his team was able to do.
A silver lining came in 2021. The Monarchs put together a solid one of their own and will have a chance to showcase their talent on the biggest stage.
Behind a combined eight-strikeout performance and allowing only two hits from Tessa Wise and Kadence Pettit, John Marshall’s offense also came to life as it defeated University, 4-1 Wednesday evening to secure the Class AAA Region One title at John Marshall High School.
“It means a lot. I thought last year we would have had a really solid team,” West said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to prove it. With these girls coming back this year and doing what they’ve done, I’m so proud of them.”
Not only did the Monarchs punch their ticket to Charleston, it was also West’s 300th career victory.
And securing a milestone victory in a playoff game wasn’t new for the veteran coach.
“It really is. I’m glad it came (Wednesday), rather than a regular season game or something” West said. “When I got my 100th win, it was the day we won the state championship in 2012. This was the regional championship, so it made it kind of nice.”
Going into the third inning, the matchup seemed a little like a mirror image of Game 1 as it was a pitching battle.
However, with two outs in the bottom of the third, Ava Blake started a trend. She secured an infield single as she beat the throw to first. That sparked a pair of hits as Shelby Koontz and Dori Kins followed as they both delivered RBI singles to make it 2-0.
John Marshall extended its lead in the fourth inning as it capitalized on a fielding error by the Hawks.
Megan Daugherty came through with a double, which plated Sophia Adkins to make it 3-0 in favor of the Monarchs.
However, the Hawks responded in the top of the fifth. Ally Jansen trimmed the deficit to two as she led off with a home run that went over the fence in dead center.
“I think we just started hitting late,” University coach Mindy Parks said. “The single home run, I thought that would spark us a little bit. But you can’t win a ballgame with two hits and that was the key. We made a few mistakes, but overall I thought we were solid. The pitching was very solid. To me, it was about the offense. We couldn’t get it going and couldn’t connect anything.”
The homer was the first hit allowed by Wise on the evening. And she did not let it get to her head as she retired the next three batters including striking out the last two.
“She gave up one hit there and one run and I couldn’t ask any better than that,” West said. “I knew I had Kadence in my back pocket if we needed her. I thought Tessa may have been a little bit tired, so I thought it was a good time to bring her in and finish them off.”
Pettit made the score 4-1 after she secured a RBI double in the fifth. In the final two innings, she allowed a double (Lauren Huesbch) and fired two strikeouts including the one the final out.
Wise delivered six strikeouts and zero walks in five innings of work.
Koontz turned in a multiple hit game with two singles.
