WINFIELD, W.Va. — Winfield senior pitcher Maci Boggess tossed a three-hit shutout as the Generals defeated Herbert Hoover, 5-0 in a rematch of the 2022 Class AA State Championship game.
Boggess, a future Youngstown State Penguin, struck out 11 batters. She did not walk a batter or allow an opposing base runner to reach second base.
“She stayed ahead in the count. Her fastball was good and her drop ball was really good,” said Winfield head coach Steve Hensley. “She was staying ahead in the count and dictating the game a little bit. And her off-speed has been good all year.”
Winfield took the lead in the bottom of the second inning when Kennedy Schilling connected on a two-run home run to straightaway center field.
“She got that good. She got a pitch and sometimes a game can come down to one or two little plays. She probably just missed her location and Kennedy put a great swing on the ball. That got us a little bit of a lead and we took it out from there.”
Winfield (4-0) added three insurance runs in the fifth inning. Alex Hurley scored on a throwing error to extend their lead to 3-0. Run-scoring base hits from Chloe Kimble and Ella Nelson capped the inning.
“Our girls just stayed aggressive. The last couple games, we’ve done a good job of taking advantage of things when we got runners on base. Two-out hitting is key and we have had a little bit of that lately.”
Hurley went 2-for-3 for the Generals. They outhit the Huskies 7-3. Winfield has scored 33 runs in their 4-0 start.
“I think we have a chance to have a good team. But it is early and we are still working through some things. We feel like defensively we can be pretty good. We feel like we have really good pitching. If our pitching can keep us in the game, we just have to find a way to score some runs. We are in a good spot right now. But it is March.”
Herbert Hoover (1-2) is seeking their sixth consecutive Class AA title. Starting pitcher Hannah Shamblin allowed two runs (one earned) in four innings. She struck out four batters while allowing three hits. Abby Hanson, Kirstin Wehrle and Emma Veltri had hits for the Huskies.