(Photos by Teran Malone)
SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A pair of big innings to bookend the game and another impressive performance from junior pitcher Cali Masters have St. Marys on the verge of a Class A state championship.
The Blue Devils (30-3) defeated Petersburg, 9-0 in five innings in the winners bracket final. St. Marys will face the winner of Thursday morning’s elimination game between PHS and Buffalo. The championship round is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. and the Blue Devils need to win once in two games.
St. Marys defeated Midland Trail, 19-0 in five innings in the opening game of the tournament.
“Nobody likes the 9:30 a.m. game but staying out of the heat this morning and having the later game tonight and being a little cooler environment, I think it really helped the kids,” said St. Marys head coach Lacy Riggs.
Masters pitched the first two innings against Midland Trail. So the Blue Devils were able to secure a pair of wins by keeping Masters to just seven innings in the circle. Against Petersburg, Masters went the distance. She struck out ten batters and eight consecutively at one point. Masters did not walk a batter and she allowed just three hits.
“Kyleigh [Rupert] came in this morning and had a great performance on the mound and let us save Cali. It was awesome.”
The Blue Devils scored four runs in the first inning and five more in the fifth. The first five batters of the game reached base for St. Marys. Brylee McGrady’s three-run double opened the scoring.
“That was key, as long as we could jump on them early. We even went cold for a couple innings and came back. Colaw’s change had us all kinds of messed up. But we bounced back and came through when we needed to.”
Layne Kincaid and Ava Giovinazzo each had two hits for St. Marys.
After finishing as the Class A state runners-up last year, the Blue Devils are in the drivers seat heading into Thursday’s play.
“I haven’t let it settle in yet. One game at a time and one out at a time.”
Sam Colaw, Addison Kitzmiller and Gracie Carpenter had base hits for the Vikings (26-9). Colaw struck out seven batters in five innings.