MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Breonna Marietta digs the long ball. It’s been that way since she was 12.
That’s when the Morgantown High second baseman first took up softball and it wasn’t long after she hit her first home run.
“It was in Granville,” she said without hesitation. “It was over the fence and I’ve pretty much loved hitting ever since.”
She remembers her home runs like singers remember their songs and each one of them holds their own special meaning.
“I had, like, three walk-off home runs as a freshman,” Marietta said. “Those are probably my favorites ones. I was honored to be the only freshman to make varsity that year.”
Marietta, now a junior who is already committed to Alderson Broaddus, hit her fourth home run of the season Thursday, as the Mohigans advanced to the Region I, Section 1 title game at 5:30 p.m. Friday against John Marshall with an 8-0 victory against Wheeling Park.
The Mohigans (16-5) must beat the Monarchs twice to advance to the Region I final.
Marietta’s shot easily cleared the right field fence at Mylan Park — “I knew it was gone right away,” Marietta said. “I could feel it.” — and it gave the Mohigans an early 3-0 lead in the first inning.
“Breonna obviously gets a lot of credit as a power hitter, but I would really consider her a good all-around hitter,” MHS head coach Lorri Lipscomb said. “She can hit home runs, but she can also put the ball in play and find gaps. She’s really good at doing both.”
Marietta added two singles and drove in three runs against the Patriots.
Teammates Grace Haines added two hits and Mahalie Moser drove in two runs, while Lillian Kooser pitched a complete game on the mound and scattered five hits over five innings.
Marietta’s homer got it going, and it too came with a story.
See, dingers have been coming in bunches for Marietta on her travel team based out of Parkersburg.
“Every tournament we’ve played, I’ve hit at least one,” she explained.
With the Mohigans, she was expecting to have had more than four at this point.
“Yeah, it makes me a little mad, because you want to keep the streak going,” Marietta said. “Hitting home runs kind of came naturally for me and when you get it going, you want to keep it going.”
Behind her good-natured smile is pure confidence. Marietta considers no pitcher unhittable and when she talks about her future in college, “AB is recruiting me for my hitting.”
She’ll have another opportunity to add to her total against the Monarchs today, which beat MHS 5-1 on Wednesday.
“We just need to come out focused and play as hard as we can,” Marietta said. “We have to really want to win.”
Box score
WHEELING PARK
Fox 3b 2 0 0 0, Funari 3b 1 0 1 0, Strothers rf 3 0 0 0, Kelly p 2 0 2 0, Tharp 1b 2 0 1 0, Kozlowski c 2 0 0 0, Derrow lf 2 0 0 0, Miller cf 2 0 1 0, Thompson ss 2 0 0 0, Randolph 2b 2 0 0 0. Totals 20 0 5 0.
MORGANTOWN (16-5)
Phares cf 4 2 0 0, Peterson dp 3 2 1 1, Moser lf 3 0 1 2, Marietta 2b 3 2 3 3, Goldcamp c 3 0 1 0, Haines 3b 2 0 2 0, Rogers 1b 2 0 0 0, Lemley ph 1 0 0 0, Kooser p 3 0 1 0, Biafore rf 1 2 0 0. Totals 25 8 9 6.
Wheeling Park 000 00—0
Morgantown 300 41—8
HR—Marietta. 2B—Haines.
Pitching
Wheeling Park: Kelly (L) 3.2 ip, 9 h, 7 r, 5 er, 3 bb, 3 so; Ashton 1.1 ip, 0 h, 1 r, 0 er, 1 bb, 0 so.
Morgantown: Kooser (W) 5 ip, 5 h, 0 r, 0 er, 0 bb, 1 so.
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