SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Offensive fireworks were on display early and often in the Class AA state tournament between Keyser and Bluefield at The Rock at Little Creek Park.
Ultimately, Keyser’s nine runs in the first inning paved the way in a 17-14 victory, though not without a valiant effort from Bluefield, which countered with four runs in its first trip to the plate and scored in all but one inning.
“Coming down here for the first time since 2012 and getting a win is huge,” Keyser head coach Colton Jones said. “We’ve been preaching to them at practice all week to believe in themselves and get the first one to guarantee us to get to Thursday. Once you get to Thursday, anything can happen, so I’m extremely proud of my team.”
Each of the first five Keyser batters reached base, including a three-run home run from No. 3 hitter Tayler Likens — her 17th long ball of the season.
Suzy Cosenza added a two-run double later in the first to up the lead to 5-0, while Likens drove in her fourth and fifth runs of the inning with a two-run double herself, though the final out of the inning was recorded at the plate on that play.
“That’s the type of hitter she is,” Jones said. “She’s the best hitter on our team and has a lot of power and hits all over the field. She works extremely hard and Tayler is a great kid. She’s a good asset to our program and works so hard, so I’m proud of her for stepping up and being a leader today.”
Just like Keyser had done, Bluefield managed to have each of its first five hitters reach base when it came to bat, including consecutive singles and three straight base-on-balls, the latter two of which brought in the Beavers’ first two runs.
Bluefield scored twice more in the opening frame to cut its deficit in half.
The Golden Tornado immediately answered back with five runs in the second, first scoring on a Cosenza single, and later adding two runs on separate plays — a groundout that scored a run, while an error led to a second, and a sacrifice fly that plated a run, while another error allowed the 13th Keyser run to score on that play.
Bluefield got to within seven by scoring twice in the second — first on Grace Richardon’s triple and again on an Izzy Smith single.
Smith, the Beavers’ pitcher, overcame early struggles to keep the Golden Tornado from scoring in the third, fourth and fifth frames, including escaping a bases loaded jam in the fourth.
The Beavers’ bats continued to help them get back into the game during that stretch, including a run-scoring single from Abby Richardson in the third and two more runs in the fourth on a Cara Brown groundout and Sophie Hall single that cut the deficit to four.
“They’re a seasoned group and it’s a veteran group,” Bluefield head coach Justin Hall said. “They stayed patient and attacked the ball the way they’re supposed to attack the ball.”
The lone scoreless inning of the matchup came in the fifth, and was immediately followed by Keyser adding to its lead with a four-run sixth.
After Likens was intentionally walked that inning to load the bases, Smith struck out Rylee Mangold for the second out, but Bibs Felton followed with a sharp single to plate a pair.
A wild pitch and error later in the sixth allowed the Golden Tornado to score their 16th and 17th runs, respectively, though the Beavers still wouldn’t give in.
Instead, BHS answered back with a four spot of its own to pull back to within four by the end of the sixth. That frame was keyed by run-scoring singles from Abby Richardson, Taylor Maybry and Madison Lawson, while Grace Richardson provided a sacrifice fly.
However, with the tying run at the plate in the form of Brown, KHS pitcher Leighton Johnson kept her poise and induced a ground ball to shortstop for the final out.
When Smith prevented KHS from scoring in the seventh, the Beavers were still within striking distance when they came to bat that inning.
Audra Rockness drew a one-out walk and No. 9 hitter Abigail Matthews followed with a single to put the tying run on deck.
Abby Richardson drove in what proved to be the final run on a groundout, before Maybry grounded out to short to seal the verdict.
Johnson walked 10 and struck out two while allowing 15 hits over seven frames. She filled in at pitcher for Mangold, who suffered a cut on her pitching hand earlier this week and was relegated to playing first base and batting cleanup.
“She wasn’t quite ready. She tried warming up. There’s a shot we might get her back later on either tonight or tomorrow,” Jones said. “We don’t know yet. We’re playing it hour by hour. We have total faith in Leighton. There’s a lot of pressure on that kid as a freshman and she did what she needed to do. Proud of that kid.”
Smith walked 12, struck out 13 and surrendered eight hits.
Likens, Cosenza and Felton had two hits apiece in the win, while Abby Richardson led all players with three hits.
Bluefield had all six errors in the game.
“Not exactly how we would’ve scripted us, but scoring 14 runs and still losing the game is hard to swallow,” Hall said. “We got behind the 8-ball in the first inning. Who knows what it was? We’re typically a very sound defensive team and we haven’t made very many errors all year. To put that behind them and keep battling and score runs showed they didn’t stop fighting.”