WHEELING — The OVAC Tom Bechtel Class 5A softball championship went down to the wire on Friday night, with the John Marshall Monarchs making a bid at a last-chance comeback against the Morgantown Mohigans, but the No. 4-seeded Mohigans stopped the No. 2-seeded Monarchs in the 11th hour, leaving the tying and winning runs stranded in the seventh inning of a 4-3 conference title clinch.
“We pulled this one out,” Morgantown head coach Lori Lipscomb said. “We knew John Marshall wasn’t going to give up, there’s always fight in them. I’m just proud of our girls, that they stayed the course, picked each other up, and it was just an all-around great effort.”
Liz Alsop and Madison Wisman each launched solo home runs for Morgantown, while Wisman also pitched a complete game for the Mohigans as they took home their second OVAC title, Lipscomb coaching another conference champion team in 2021.
After trailing 4-1 midway through the sixth, John Marshall scored runs in the sixth and seventh innings, and put two runners on with two outs in the seventh, but couldn’t come through with one more big swing.
“We just fell a little bit short,” John Marshall head coach Rob Blake said. “It wasn’t our best hitting performance today. We played right into their hands and swung at some pitches that we’re not accustomed to going out and swinging at. We’ll regroup, get the ship righted. On Monday we’ll practice then it’s onto the sectionals against Brooke on Tuesday.”
AC Cumberledge and Kaylee White each had two hits for John Marshall, and Cumberledge pitched all seven innings for the Monarchs.
Morgantown took an early lead in the top of the second, Anne Robinson taking a pitch for a ride to the right-center wall for a two-run double which broke open the scoring.
John Marshall got one run back in the bottom of the frame, White being hit by a pitch, making her way around the bases on a combination of wild pitches and productive outs, and finally coming home to score on a passed ball.
Wisman popped the first of a pair of solo shots for Morgantown in the third, launching a ball deep over the left field fence to increase their lead to 3-1.
It was Alsop’s turn in the top of the fifth, smoking a two-out, two-strike pitch out of the yard to dead center.
“Doesn’t hurt, does it?” Lipscomb said of her team’s homers. “Those are huge because it kind of sets the tone, gives confidence to the rest of the players. They’ve been hitting the ball well lately, and I was glad to see it carry over. We’re getting closer to the postseason and they’re swinging good bats. That’s been key.”
Robinson made an impressive defensive play in the bottom of the inning, making the catch of the day on a shallow fly ball which the outfielder had to charge hard for, eventually diving at full speed, making the catch and ending up in the infield dirt.
John Marshall was stymied by Robinson in the fifth, but they scratched one across in the sixth, Alexis Thayer tallying an RBI with runners on the corners. Thayer smacked a comebacker to Wisman, and beat out a throw from second to turn a possible inning-ending double play into an RBI and a fielder’s choice.
Down two heading into the seventh, two of the first three Monarchs up to bat reached on sharp grounders through the infield, and yet another ground ball off the bat of Cumberledge – which took a nasty bounce right over the shortstop’s head – scored a run and put two on with two out for the defending state champions.
In a high-pressure situation, Wisman coaxed a pop-out to first base for game, set and match.
“It’s the confidence that they have in themselves and the belief that they have in each other,” Lipscomb said. “The way they support each other, the defense, the energy in the dugout, I think that carries us through a lot of tough situations and keeps us going. It always feels good to be a champion.”
By NICK HENTHORN/The Intelligencer
BOX SCORE
Morgantown 4, John Marshall 3
Morgantown 021 010 0 – 4 5 0
J. Marshall 010 001 1 – 3 7 0
M–Wisman wp (2K, 5BB) and Rhodes; Robinson D, 2rbi; Alsop HR, rbi; Wisman HR, rbi;
JM–Cumberledge lp (2K, 1BB) and Inclan; Cumberledge rbi; Thayer rbi; White D.
