SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Depending on the situation, Pendleton County leadoff hitter Avery Townsend changes her approach at the plate.
În her final at bat as a Wildcat, Townsend displayed the aggressive nature that’s often to led to success, with the left-handed senior hitting a sharp single to right to drive in teammates Susan Vincell and Chesnee Colaw, putting the finishing touches on a 9-1 win against Wahama in five innings of play at The Rock at Little Creek Park.
“Whenever I’m leading off the game or there are no runners on, I know if I hit it on the ground, I’m going to get on first base, so it’s an automatic single really. Or if there are two outs and there’s a runner on third, I slap,” Townsend said. “But if there are runners on base, I’m swinging away, because I know I can get a base hit or at least try to score them and do more damage.”
Townsend finished with three of her team’s 12 hits, while PCHS (32-2) continued its dominant state tournament showing in which it outscored the opposition 27-1 over three games.
One night after blanking Wahama 6-0, the Wildcats were forced to defeat the White Falcons (29-8) again after they had survived an earlier elimination game against Greenbrier West.
“The biggest thing last night was we talked about staying focused and not getting complacent,” PCHS head coach Eric Crites said. “We had a 21-game win streak in the middle of the year and it was hard to keep that going. You’re up 2-0 and you think they have to beat you twice, but Wahama is a great team that can comeback and beat anybody twice. They really can. We didn’t want to get to that second game. We wanted to put pressure on them in Game 1 and get it all over with.”
After leading off with a single and stealing second, Townsend scored the game’s first run on a Jenna Smith groundout, while Lizzie Alt followed with one of her own to drive in Beachler for a 2-0 lead.
A 65-minute rain delay came in the bottom of the second with PCHS still leading by two.
“Anytime you have to play that extra game, it wears on you a little bit,” Wahama head coach Wes Riffle said. “Even with the rain delay, you could tell the girls were a little fatigued.”
After the game resumed, Beachler, a Robert Morris signee, continued her dominance in the pitching circle and the Wildcats added to their advantage in a big way with a four-spot in the home half of the third. That frame featured Alt’s run-scoring double, Vincell’s run-scoring single and a Colaw single that drove in a pair to leave WHS facing a 6-0 deficit.
“This group of kids will do just about anything together ± music, singing, you name it. It’s been a great mixture of old and young,” Crites said. “I’m very lucky to get to come out here and watch them do exactly what they know how to do.”
Beachler retired the White Falcons in order in the fourth, including consecutive strikeouts to end that inning.
Alt added to her team’s lead with a two-out double to plate Beachler, who had doubled two at bats prior.
“Our energy has been really important throughout the season,” Townsend said. “As long as our energy is up, our play is going to be up.”
Wahama scored the first and only run at state against Pendleton in the fifth on a groundout off the bat of Elissa Hoffman that brought Payton Staats across the plate after she’d led off the inning with a single.
Unfortunately for Wahama, it wasn’t enough to prolong the contest as Townsend delivered her third hit in the home half of the inning to end things early.
Beachler, who finished the season with an 18-1 record, struck out seven and issued one walk while surrendering two hits.
“Yesterday, with our lefty Susan Vincell giving us three good innings and Baylee only had to throw 28 pitches in Game 1 and got by with 84 pitches in Game 2, that left her fresh for when we came back today,” Crites said.
Beachler, Townsend, Alt, Vincell and Julia Mongold gave Pendleton half of the 10 representatives on the Class A all-tournament team, which also featured Wahama’s Hoffman and Staats, Greenbrier West’s Brilee Redden and Maddie Fields and Trinity’s Peyton Moore.
Hoffman recorded seven outs before being relieved in the third inning. Earlier Thursday, she logged a complete game in the White Falcons’ 11-6 victory over the Cavaliers.
“Elissa’s pitched every inning of every game up until this one and that girl is a warrior,” Riffle said. “A little bit of fatigue sets in, but they’re just tough and gave it everything they had.”