Truth be told, Ava Biafore wasn’t even expecting to play.
She ended up as the unexpected hero, as the Morgantown High softball team defeated Wheeling Park, 8-7, in a thriller that ended with Biafore’s walk-off hit in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday.
Moments later, the junior outfielder was mobbed at home plate by her teammates who had just survived a thriller in the first round of the Region I, Section 1 tournament.
“I’ve been playing softball since I was seven, and you always kind of dream about a moment like that,” Biafore said. “That felt pretty good. It was amazing.”
The Mohigans (15-4) will play John Marshall at 5:30 p.m. today at Mylan Park. The Monarchs beat Brooke on Tuesday, 12-0.
With MHS leading 7-1 heading into the seventh inning, it would have taken a near miracle or a terrible breakdown for Biafore to even see some action.
“Yeah, I just kind of thought we would shut them down and then go get ready for the next game,” she said.
Then came the drama.
“We definitely didn’t need a seventh inning like that,” MHS head coach Lorri Lipscomb said. “That was something else.”
Wheeling Park’s comeback bid began with two walks, the only two allowed by MHS starter Mikala Rogers, who had been steady until the final inning.
An error in the infield loaded the bases and then Wheeling Park’s Makiyah Strothers brought in a run with a single and then two more scored on teammate Kayla Tharp’s single.
Mary Derrow’s RBI base hit cut the Mohigans’ lead, 7-6, with two more runs that also saw another error in the outfield.
It also chased Rogers from the game.
“Normally Mikala is steady,” Lipscomb said. “She’s the one who wants the ball in the last inning. That’s the type of pitcher she is.
“Watching it all unfold, I’m asking myself, ‘Do I need to take her out?’ Maybe I should have done it earlier, which is easy to say now, but as it was all happening, it was a tough decision to make.”
Lillian Kooser came in from right field to pitch, which opened the door for Biafore to enter the game in the outfield.
Kooser gave up an RBI single to Hayley Thompson that scored Derrow to tie the game before Faith Randolph flied out to center to end the charge.
The difference was the Mohigans were in the middle of their batting order in their final at-bats.
“We were exactly where we needed to be, so I figured we were still in pretty good shape,” Lipscomb said.
The Mohigans thrive on offense and are far from a small-ball, steal a base and score on a ground ball kind of team.
Instead, MHS is free-swinging. It’s a team that had three doubles to the gap before it registered it’s first single Tuesday.
It’s a team where everyone in the lineup can hit the ball hard, including backup catcher Abigail Harki, who hit a ball hard to the hole at shortstop and then rocketed another to right field after coming in the game in the third inning.
“Most backup catchers probably don’t do that,” Lipscomb said. “But, we’ve got the kind of depth and talent on offense where we can bring players off the bench to contribute.”
That includes Biafore, who came up in the seventh with the bases loaded, after Breonna Marietta doubled on the first pitch she saw, Emily Goldcamp reached on an error and Grace Haines was intentionally walked.
“I just needed to put the ball in play,” Biafore said. “Getting one to the outfield would be nice, which is what happened.”
Biafore took a fastball and drove it to deep center for a base hit to end the game.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever really been in that situation,” she said. “I was just glad to be able to come in and help out.”
Box score
WHEELING PARK
Fox 3b 4 1 0 0, Strothers dp 4 1 1 1, Kelly p 4 1 0 0, Tharp 1b 4 1 2 2, Kozlowski c 4 0 1 0, Derrow lf 4 2 3 1, Miller cf 3 0 2 0, Thompson ss 2 1 1 1, Randolph 2b 3 0 0 1. Totals 32 7 10 6.
MORGANTOWN (15-4)
Phares cf 4 0 0 0, Anthony ss 3 2 1 0, Moser lf 4 2 2 0, Marietta 2b 3 2 2 1, Goldcamp 1b 4 0 0 0, Haines 3b 3 2 2 1, Rogers p 1 0 0 0, Biafore rf 1 0 1 1, Lemley c 1 0 1 1, Harki c 2 0 1 1, Kooser rf/p 2 0 0 0. Totals 28 8 10 5.
Wheeling Park 000 100 6—7
Morgantown 112 120 1—8
2B— Haines 2, Marietta 2, Moser.
Pitching
Wheeling Park: Kelly 4.2 ip, 8 h, 7 r, 3 er, 3 bb, 1 so; Ashton (L) 2.1 ip, 2 h, 1 r, 1 er, 1 bb, 0 so.
Morgantown: Rogers 6.2 ip, 8 h, 7 r, 3 er, 2 bb, 5 so; Kooser (W) 0.1 ip, 2 h, 0 r, 0 er, 0 bb, 0 so.
University 11, Preston 0
Autumn Stemple hurled five perfect innings — she recording 14 of her 15 outs via the strikeout — as the Hawks advanced in the Class AAA Region I, Section 2 tournament.
The Hawks scored two runs in the 2nd inning, three in the 3rd and five in the 4th to force the mercy rule against the Knights.
Hannah Brown, Ally Jansen and Madison Moon each had two RBIs to lead UHS, while Stemple, Anna Argabrite, Alyssa Spadafore and Anna Voris each had one.
Stemple went 3 for 3 at the plate and Jansen, Moon and Voris each had two hits.
The Hawks (13-10) will host Bridgeport in the winner’s bracket at 5 p.m. Wednesday. The Knights will travel to Buckhannon-Upshur in the loser’s bracket at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Clay-Battelle 8, South Harrison 0
The Cee-Bees moved on to the winner’s bracket in the Class A Region I, Section 1 tournament with a shutout win.
Sydney Wilson struck out 16 of the 21 batters she faced and also homered in the effort. Cam Watson drove in Ronda Petrucci with the winning RBI in the bottom of the 6th.
C-B will play at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Doddridge County.
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