The Lady Yellow Jackets won their seventh consecutive Class A Region II Section 2 Softball championship 8-0 flying off the bat of two home runs by Remington Hinkle in an 8-0 shutout over East Hardy at Sager Field on Thursday.
“This is my seventh year of coaching and we’ve gone to state six of the seven years. This was great to win seven straight,” Moorefield coach Tammie Ayers commented.
“Remi [Hinkle] has been struggling with the bat and has been pretty discouraged, so I was really happy to see that not only did she hit well, but she hit two out. That just makes my heart warm for her. She is a hard worker and has the skill and ability, but when they are slumping it hurts me as much as them. To see her pull herself out of the hole is really special.”
The Lady Cougars reached the championship with an 8-4 victory against Pendleton County, but the momentum came to a halt as Moorefield pitcher Alyssa Vetter and the defense sent the first three batters back to the dugout.
Starting off the championship, East Hardy leadoff batter Madison Strawderman grounded out to Moorefield second baseman Madison McGregor, then Vetter struck out Lexi Strawderman and Skye Metzer popped out to third baseman Macie Zirk.
East Hardy pitcher Emma Baker allowed a leadoff single up the middle by Moorefield’s Rebekah Markwood.
Tori Humphries reached second base on an error by first baseman Brooke Miller with the ball zipping off her glove into right field.
The Yellow Jackettes opened the scoring on Remington Hinkle’s RBI single into center field.
Moorefield’s Hanna Carlson smashed a two-run producing triple with the ball taking a wicked hop past the glove of East Hardy right fielder Emily Yates for a 3-0 first inning edge.
McGregor flew out to East Hardy center fielder Lexi Strawderman, then Baker pitched a strikeout to Vetter and Zirk hit a groundout to shortstop Julia Hahn to end the frame.
In the top of the second inning, the Lady Cougars showed a promising situation loading the bases on three consecutive singles before the magic disappeared.
East Hardy’s Brooke Miller started out with a single into left field, then Hahn singled into center field and Rebecca Whetzel notched a blooper single into right field for the loaded bases scenario.
Moorefield pitcher Alyssa Vetter countered by jamming Jessica Smith into a pop-up to Markwood and Basye popped up to catcher Alyson Simmons.
The Lady Cougars runners were stranded on a fielder’s choice hit by Baker with Markwood making the out at second base.
“These girls never quit at anything. We had a tough schedule and they busted their butts day in and day out in every game. To go out in the championship, we would have rather been on top. To make it here was an achievement in and of itself,” East Hardy coach Ashley Taylor remarked.
“Our bats, we were hitting and it was just going right to them. We couldn’t find gaps and Moorefield has a really good ball team. We just couldn’t find the gaps and they did a nice job covering them.”
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Baker tossed back-to-back strikeouts to Moorefield’s Makaleigh Snyder and Simmons in the bottom of the second inning, then Markwood launched the ball into left field where Smith missed on a diving attempt creating a triple.
Humphries tapped the ball just over Baker and East Hardy second baseman Madison Strawderman made a diving effort for it and it bounced away scoring Markwood in the process for a 4-nil lead.
Hahn scooped up a groundout by Hinkle to move to the third inning.
Madison Strawderman grounded out to McGregor and Lexi Strawderman flew out to Moorefield center fielder Anna Riggleman to being the third inning, then Skye Metzer reached base on a dropped third strike before being left aboard on Miller’s groundout to Carlson.
Carlson drew a walk in the bottom of the third inning, then McGregor hit into a fielder’s choice at third base and the throw by Basye ricocheted away from Strawderman.
The Lady Yellow Jackets weren’t able to produce a run on two fielder’s choice outs at third base and a pop-up by Snyder to Hahn.
Markwood came in to pitch for Moorefield and induced a groundout by Hahn to McGregor in the fourth inning
Whetzel singled into left field, then Smith hit into a fielder’s choice out.
Basye hit a sharp grounder into left field to put two runners on the base path for East Hardy, but Baker’s fly ball was caught in right field by Carlson.
Simmons slapped a hard grounder which was stopped by Madison Strawderman on her knees with the ball rolling a couple feet away for the single.
Markwood hit into a fielder’s choice with Simmons arriving safely at second base and Gracie O’Neill came in as a courtesy runner.
Humphries bunted up and out to Baker for the first out of the inning.
Hinkle crushed a three-run home run to give the Lady Yellow Jackets a 7-0 advantage and was greeted at home plate by her teammates giving her enthusiastic support.
Miller replaced Baker in the pitching circle for the Lady Cougars, then Carlson singled into center field.
McGregor hit to Basye with the fielder’s choice out at second base, then Vetter knocked the ball toward shortstop Hahn making the diving save and stretch to tag second base to escape any more damage.
East Hardy’s Skye Metzer singled into left field with two outs, then Miller squeezed the ball past the glove of Humphries at shortstop before the runners were stranded on a flyout by Hahn.
Moorefield’s Lauren Arbaugh flew out to Yates in right field, then Snyder singled into right field.
Simmons grounded out to Basye at first base, but her throw for a double play went awry hitting Snyder in the back.
Markwood flew out to Smith in left field as the inning came to a close.
The Lady Cougars went down in order as Whetzel grounded out to Humphries, then Markwood struck out Smith and Basye.
“It means a lot to me. My team means a lot to me. I am just glad they are here to cheer me up, because these past few games I haven’t been hitting very well,” Moorefield freshman Remington Hinkle stated.
“They are always here to have my back and I just thank them for being here by my side. They are the best teammates I could ever ask for and I have played with half these girls since I was seven years old. The [home run] pitches were nice and they were right down the middle. I thank my coach Julie Markwood for helping get me through the slump I have been in.”
After a groundout by Humphries, Hinkle delivered the game-winning solo home run for the 8-0 Lady Yellow Jackets sectional championship victory.
“Beating East Hardy is always sweet. Ashley [Taylor] has a strong program over there and she is an awesome coach. Brooke Miller is a good pitcher and they hit the ball very well, but struggle with defense. She has a good group of girls. It was special to beat them, especially at home in front of our fans,” Coach Ayers said.
“We tried to shake it up a little starting Alyssa [Vetter]. She doesn’t throw as hard, but she has a deadly change-up. She was spot-on tonight. She kept her head in there. We wanted her to stay in there through at least one lineup before we put in a faster pitcher and she did that and then some. I was proud of her. Bekah [Markwood] came in and finished it and they both compliment each other. We have thrown Hanna [Carlson] more against East Hardy, so I was afraid they would hit her more and we stayed away from using her this game. I try to use the same rotation and stayed with the same rotation all year. We have a whole week to prepare for the region championship.”
Moorefield has over a week to prepare for the Region II Championship and a ticket to Vienna for the state softball tournament.
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