Moorefield swiftly took an early lead and maintained the advantage for an 8-2 victory over the Lady Cougars during the second round of the Region II Section 2 playoffs at Sager Field on Tuesday.
“The bats (are) what won it this evening. Hanna [Carlson] did pitch a very good game, did a good job of hitting her spots,” Moorefield coach Tammie Ayers remarked.
“I think the hitting came through when we needed it and we jumped on the ball in the first inning. We kept telling them to win the inning. We just have to score more runs than they do to win the inning. We stayed diligent about that and even when we had one inning three up and three down, we came back in the next time and still hit the ball.”
The Lady Yellow Jackets prevented East Hardy from having any baserunners in the first inning.
Lady Cougars leadoff batter Madison Strawderman grounded out to Moorefield second baseman Madison McGregor, then pitcher Hanna Carlson tossed a strikeout to Lexi Strawderman and Skye Metzer flew out to Anna Riggleman in center field.
East Hardy pitcher Brooke Miller jammed Moorefield leadoff batter Rebekah Markwood into a pop-out to third baseman Emma Baker.
Moorefield’s Tori Humphries delivered a double into center field and scored on an RBI single by Remington Hinkle hopping into right field.
Carlson created an RBI groundout to East Hardy shortstop Julia Hahn over to Leanna Basye at first base as the Lady Yellow Jackets took a 2-nil edge.
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McGregor launched a single into center field, but the runners were left on base on a groundout by Alyssa Vetter to Hahn.
Miller squeezed a grounder up the middle for a single in the top of the second inning for the Lady Cougars, then Hahn struck out.
East Hardy’s Jessica Smith popped out to shortstop Markwood and Basye flew out to Riggleman in center field to retire the side.
The Lady Yellow Jackets went down in order as Macie Zirk and Makaleigh Snyder grounded out to Hahn before Alyson Simmons popped out to Basye.
“They just didn’t hit as they usually have been. There were some errors that killed us,” East Hardy coach Ashley Taylor commented.
“We just couldn’t string hits together and couldn’t push runs across the plate. Now we are going to focus on Pendleton [County] and hope to be back here on Thursday.”
Rebecca Whetzel notched a leadoff single into left field for the Lady Cougars in the third inning and Emily Moyers came in as the courtesy runner.
Baker flew out to Hinkle in left field and Madison Strawderman executed a sacrifice bunt to move Moyers, who would be stranded on a pop-up by Lexi Strawderman to Markwood.
Markwood singled into left field to begin the bottom of the third inning for Moorefield, then Humphries hit into a fielder’s choice and Miller pitched a strikeout to Hinkle.
Carlson answered with an RBI double sending the ball sailing deep into center field for a 3-nil lead.
McGregor popped out to Baker along the third baseline near the dugout to end the frame.
Metzer grounded out to Markwood to commence the fourth inning, followed by a single from Miller into center field.
Miller was stranded as Hahn popped out to Moorefield catcher Alyson Simmons and Smith grounded out to McGregor.
Moorefield didn’t reach the base path in the fourth inning as Vetter grounded out to Hahn, Zirk popped out to Basye and Snyder hit a grounder back to Miller in the circle.
Basye ripped a single up the middle for the Lady Cougars in the top of the fifth inning, then Whetzel popped out to shortstop Markwood and Baker flew out to Riggleman in center field.
East Hardy’s Madison Strawderman connected for a single in center field, but both runners were left aboard on a pop-out by Lexi Strawderman to Simmons.
Simmons crushed a double to the center field fence for the Lady Yellow Jackets in the bottom of the fifth inning, then just barely slid back to second base during a rundown situation.
Markwood grounded out to Madison Strawderman, who bobbled the ball and recovered just in time.
Humphries garnered an RBI double past the diving attempt of East Hardy right fielder Emily Yates to go up 4-0.
Hinkle singled up the middle and the runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Carlson which was fielded by Lady Cougars catcher Skye Metzer.
McGregor swatted the ball for a two-run producing play giving Moorefield a 6-0 lead as East Hardy left fielder Jessica Smith dropped it which enabled McGregor to reach second base.
After a timeout, Vetter grounded out to Miller for the last out of the frame.
In the top of the sixth inning, East Hardy’s Brooke Miller smashed a solo home run over the center field fence with one out to cut the deficit to 6-1.
Hahn singled into right field, but was stranded as Smith popped out to Vetter and Basye flew out to McGregor in shallow right field.
Snyder connected for a double in the right center gap with one out for the Lady Yellow Jackets, then Miller issued a walk to Simmons.
After a groundout by Markwood to Madison Strawderman advanced the runners, Humphries delivered a two-RBI single into center field for an 8-1 advantage and a pop-up by Hinkle to Miller ended the inning.
East Hardy wasn’t ready to return to the Den just yet as Whetzel sliced a double to the left center fence in the top of the seventh inning and Moyers came in as the runner.
Moorefield recorded two outs as Riggleman caught a fly ball from Baker near the fence and Vetter snatched a pop-up by Madison Strawderman.
Lexi Strawderman connected for a single to keep the game going for the Lady Cougars.
Metzer smacked an RBI double into left center field to make it 8-2, then Carlson closed the game with a strikeout to Miller.
East Hardy plays Pendleton County in the elimination game, then the winner faces the Lady Yellow Jackets in Moorefield for the Region II Section 2 Championship on Thursday.
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