VIENNA, W.Va. — After throwing 14 state tournament innings Wednesday for the James Monroe softball team, Lexi Carter was happy to ice her arm in preparation for more.
“No fatigue,” she said after the Mavericks upset Chapmanville 1-0 in the Class AA semifinals. “I’m good. Ready to go.”
James Monroe (22-7) earned a spot in the championship game thanks to Carter’s pitching and Megan Bailey’s sixth-inning RBI single.
The Mavericks’ defense also turned a key double play in the fifth inning, picking off a runner rounding second base after a sac bunt.
“We weren’t even supposed to be here, but the girls, they worked for this,” said coach Greg Wickline. “I’m sure we were supposed to come down here, lose two games and go home. But the girls sucked it up.”
Chapmanville (30-6) put two runners aboard in the seventh before Carter coaxed a game-ending grounder. The meant the Lady Tigers must face Petersburg (30-5) in Thursday morning’s elimination game, with the survivor needing to beat James Monroe twice in the final.
Petersburg 3, Oak Glen 2: Samantha Rohrbaugh’s leaping catch robbed Hannah Clunk of a game-tying hit on the final play and kept Petersburg alive in the elimination bracket.
The Vikings led 3-0 in the sixth until Clunk’s two-run homer tightened things up. The cleanup hitter for Oak Glen (12-14) was afforded another chance in the bottom of the seventh with two runners aboard, only to see her liner speared by Rohrbaugh before it could shoot into right-center.
Chapmanville 5, Oak Glen 1: Kenzie McCann singled home the go-ahead run in the fifth on her way to earning the complete-game victory.
Savannah Wiley’s solo homer made it 2-0 in the sixth before Shian Meeks hit a two-run shot in the seventh for the Lady Tigers.
Oak Glen avoided the shutout in its final at-bat on Eileen Flowers’ RBI single.
James Monroe 7, Petersburg 6: Megan Bailey belted a three-run triple and leadoff batter Kelly Ellison scored three times to lead the Mavericks.
Petersburg outhit James Monroe 12-6 but issued five walks.