SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Thanks in large part to junior Jessica Terry, Cabell Midland softball coach Herman Beckett has one less item on his bucket list.
Terry wrapped up three stellar showings in the pitching circle at the state tournament with a complete game shutout Wednesday at Little Creek Park, keying the Knights to a 3-0 victory over St. Albans for the Class AAA state championship.
“I’ve had a bucket list and it’s been awhile coming,” Beckett said. “Four years ago when I took over this team, I wanted this to fill out the bucket list. So I can tell the man upstairs I’ve done my part here. These girls were phenomenal. That’s all you can say. They played really hard.”
Terry held the Red Dragons (32-3) to four hits, wrapping up a three-game state tournament showing that saw her toss two shutouts and hold the opposition to two runs in 21 innings. On Tuesday night, Terry also provided a walk-off single for the Knights (30-9) in a 3-2 victory over St. Albans that put them in the driver’s seat ahead of Wednesday’s action.
“We knew what to expect,” Terry said. “We knew how they were and we know what they can do. We wanted to stay positive and confident, but humble.”
After St. Albans prolonged its season with a 5-0 win over Washington early Wednesday, Terry ensured there would be no winner-take-all game.
She worked out of trouble in each of the first two innings, including in the second, when the Red Dragons stranded a pair in scoring position.
“If you score first, it can change the whole dynamic of a game,” St. Albans coach Christian Watts said. “We weren’t able to score and weren’t able to string together consecutive hits. Just one of those games.”
The Knights looked primed to take the lead in the home half of the second when Olivia Pelfrey singled to lead off and advanced to third with no outs on a Jenna Dorsey double. But Tayven Stephenson buckled down and prevented CMHS from scoring to keep the contest scoreless.
It wouldn’t stay that way for long.
Simone Blanks reached on an error to begin the home half of the third and Blanks scored the game’s first run on Terry’s single. Later in the frame, Pelfrey and Dorsey contributed two-out RBI singles that enabled Cabell Midland to seize control with a 3-0 lead.
“Whenever we score first, we excel in the field more, because we know that we’re ahead and we have a little bit of cushion incase an error or hit would happen,” Terry said.
That was more than enough support for Terry, who threw only five pitches in the fifth and got out of a two on, one-out jam in the sixth.
Terry then retired the side in order in the seventh to seal the win. She struck out five in the shutout.
“After the second inning last night, Jess decided I can beat this team,” Beckett said. “That’s what she did. I looked her in the eyes this morning and said, ‘Can you do it?’ She said, ‘Yes sir.’ We put the ball in her hands and she and Olivia did a good job. Olivia has caught for us the last four years so she knows what she’s doing.”
Stephenson allowed three runs in four innings, before giving way to Kendall Stoffel, who logged three scoreless innings in defeat.
Pelfrey was 3-for-3 to lead all players in hits, while Dorsey and Terry recorded two hits each, allowing the trio to combine for all but two of Cabell Midland’s nine hits.
The win gave CMHS its first state championship since 2005.
“They grew after the first game that we played with Lincoln County in the (sectional) tournament,” Beckett said. “We were down 6-2, came back and scored in the bottom of the seventh inning to win the ball game. That helped them jell and they’ve been good ever since. They played their hinds off.”
Class AAA All-Tournament Team
Olivia Pelfrey, Cabell Midland
Jessica Terry, Cabell Midland
Jenna Dorsey, Cabell Midland
Taylor Glancy, St. Albans
Tayven Stephenson, St. Albans
Kendall Stoffel, St. Albans
Jillian Holley, St. Albans
Maddy Rufner, Washington
Kadence Pettit, John Marshall
Tessa Wise, John Marshall