BLACKSVILLE, W.Va. — The memorable season for the Clay-Battelle softball team continued Tuesday as senior Caitlyn Kassay and junior Rylee Burnette were named first-team all-state selections by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
The Cee-Bees (26-4) are coming off their first state tournament appearance, where they fell to Wheeling Central in the state semifinal May 23.
Kassay made the first team as a pitcher and was dominant in the circle, compiling 15 of the team’s 23 wins this year. She posted a 15-1 record in the regular season 0.68 ERA and 241 strikeouts in 110 innings.
“Being awarded first team all-state is such an honor,” Kassay said. “Having the opportunity to represent Clay-Battelle for four years has been a blessing to me. I can’t get over all of the love and support this community has given myself and the team. I’m so proud of all the work our team put in this season and all that we accomplished.”
Burnette, the team’s lead off hitter, posted a batting average of .421 and got on base in almost half of her at bats with a .492 on-base percentage.
“Getting first-team all-state means a lot to me,” she said. “It shows that my hard work is paying off. I have to thank my other teammates, though, because if it wasn’t for there hard work and things they did on the field to help our team be so successful, I wouldn’t have gotten the recognition that I’ve gotten.”
Burnette made the team as an outfielder, but she bounced around all over the field. She started out as an infielder before being put in center field out of necessity. Toward the end of the year, she moved to catcher for the same reason.
“The hardest thing was just not getting to practice at those positions and just having to go in there and give it all I had,” Burnette said. “Going in to each of those positions, I knew I had to step up and become more of a leader and show my teammates that I’m gonna give it all I had no matter where I had to play.”
Teammate Ronda Petrucci, who Burnette replaced at catcher when Petrucci was hurt, was named to the all-state second team.
Sherman’s Autumn Thompson was named the first-team captain after she fired on all cylinders inside the circle this season for Henderson and the Tide. She compiled a 28-4 record and a 0.59 earned run average to go with 301 strikeouts in the regular season.
Thompson helped Sherman win its first state championship in any sport.
“It feels amazing but I feel like I worked so hard to get here and I showed everybody you don’t have to be from a big school to do what you do. You just have to work hard,” she said.
