SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Riding a wave of momentum entering the WVSSAC Class AAA state tournament, first-year George Washington softball coach Stacy Hobbs felt his team was good enough to compete with defending state champion Jefferson.
Thanks in large part to the pitching of Alexis Adkins, the Patriots proved to be a more than formidable foe.
Adkins went the distance and limited the Cougars to seven hits, while utilizing pinpoint accuracy that aided an effective performance and led the Patriots to a 4-1 victory.
With the win, GW (22-11) advances to take on John Marshall in the winner’s bracket, while Jefferson (21-7) will seek to avoid elimination against Cabell Midland. The Patriots avoided elimination on five occasions — three in sectional play and twice more in regionals — to reach the state tournament.
“It’s been incredible. I can’t say enough about the resiliency and fight they have,” Patriots’ head coach Stacy Hobbs said. “They were counted out in this game and everybody knows it, too. But when we play together, with a lot of energy and execute and Alexis Adkins does her job, we’re going to be a tough out for anybody. We played exceptionally well today and she pitched well and we faced a very good Jefferson team.”
GW had an opportunity to lead in the first inning after loading the bases, but Cougars’ pitcher Shelby Harris got Ava Sitler to hit a fly ball to left field for the final out.
The matchup remained scoreless until the top of the third when GW broke through against Jefferson pitcher Rebecca Munslow.
A leadoff single from Tylie Barton was followed by Passion Holley drawing a base-on-balls. Natali Tomlbin then connected for a single with a JHS error on the play enabling Barton and Holley to score for a 2-0 advantage.
Munslow kept the deficit at two by inducing an inning-ending double play, though JHS was unable to solve Adkins.
GW carried its two-run advantage to the fifth before doubling it courtesy of a Karalyne Wade single that drove in a pair.
“Not to sound any certain type of way, but it’s normal for us,” Hobbs said. “When we need something to happen, somebody is going to step up.”
JHS threatened and finally broke through in the sixth after Kalee Dalton connected for her second hit and Munslow followed with a single. With a pair of runners in scoring position and one out, Chloe Cowan sent a ground ball to short that scored Dalton, but resulted in the second out.
Adkins then retired Brooke Allen to keep her team’s lead at three, and she kept the Cougars off the scoreboard in the seventh to finish off her stellar showing.
“Everybody here has a good pitcher and we just need to be selective on the pitches that we want to hit,” Cougars’ head coach Desire’ Waters said. “We have to battle back now, but we’ll be ready to go.”
Adkins struck out four and walked a pair, while allowing seven hits over the complete game victory. She also finished 2-for-4 from her leadoff spot in the lineup.
Wade also had two hits, while Taylor Presley and Dalton paced Jefferson with a pair of hits each.
Harris allowed three hits over a pair of scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Munslow was the losing pitcher after allowing four runs on seven hits in five frames. She struck out three and walked a pair.
“Our mindset and everybody has probably seen it and heard it has been, why not us? This group last year won 12 or 13 games and just didn’t have a lot of confidence in each other,” Hobbs said. “ I’m big on energy, confidence and communication. If we communicate with each other and have a lot of energy, we’re going to be tough. We’re playing like there is no tomorrow.”