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Hurricane goes deep for Class AAA softball championship

VIENNA, W.Va. — Hurricane’s deep and diversified lineup didn’t disappoint on championship Thursday at the West Virginia softball state tournament.

No. 6 hitter Madison Hebb blasted a two-run homer and the Redskins racked up 11 hits while dispatching South Charleston 6-2 for the Class AAA title.

“That’s what sets us apart—the production throughout the lineup,” said Hurricane coach Josh Caldwell, whose team capped a 37-2 season. “Our 7-8-9 hitters have been as big as 1-2-3. With our offense, it comes from everywhere.”

South Charleston coach Annette Olenchick saw that first-hand when Hurricane took two regular-season meetings 15-3 and 9-2. While the state final was closer, the Redskins still rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to win comfortably.

“They’re a great team—we talked about it all year,” Olenchick said. “They get the runs they need. They execute.”

Hebb’s homer, which followed one of Amber Null’s three hits, put Hurricane up 5-2 in the fifth.

By that point, South Charleston (29-11) had almost no hope of retaliating against Emily Davis, the pitcher who surrendered two first-inning runs and then set down 18 of the next 19 batters.

“My first inning was a little shaky,” she said. “But after we got the cushion, I could relax and start throwing like I needed to throw.”

A member of the 2013 squad that captured Hurricane’s first softball championship, Davis said her fellow seniors were bent on making amends for missing the state tournament in 2014.

“Last year was a little heartbreaking not being able to get here, but we finished it the right way today,” she said.

And the finish belonged to senior second baseman Madison Casto, whose diving catch on a liner up the middle set the championship dogpile in motion.

“It was dark under there. Everybody was on top of me and I was really hot and sweaty,” she joked.

“To see her sprawling across the infield is a pretty awesome way to end it,” said Caldwell, who appreciated Casto’s glovework on an even more acrobatic diving catch in the fourth.

“She’s been by far the best defensive second baseman I’ve seen in softball.”

The expected championship rematch between Hurricane and Musselman never materialized, because South Charleston ambushed the Applemen (35-3) in an elimination game earlier Thursday.

“It was awesome, and showed we’re not giving up,” said Eagles outfielder Olivia Orcutt-Lazo. “We’re winning next year, We’re all juniors basically, We’re coming back stronger than ever.”


South Charleston 6, Musselman 1: Orcutt-Lazo’s two-run, third-inning homer put the Eagles on pace to stun Musselman.

Josie Bare and Jazmine Martin tacked on RBI singles in the fifth for South Charleston, which had lost two regular-season games to the Applemen by a combined score of 11-0.

Kiersten Landers and Amanda McDonald combined to four-hit Musselman, which entered the state tournament undefeated against in-state opponents but suffered its second loss in less than 24 hours.

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