(Photo gallery by Teran Malone)
SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The first WVSSAC Class AAAA Softball Champion now owns six state titles overall. Cabell Midland defeated Jefferson, 2-0 in the first installment of the four-class state championship.
Audrea Watts struck out 14 batters and the Knights were able to manufacture a pair of runs in the fifth and sixth innings to complete an unbeaten run through their postseason.
“This group of girls started out the season and we knew we had a good team. We just didn’t know how good. We upgraded our schedule and in the end, it paid off,” said Cabell Midland head coach Herman Beckett.
“It is one heck of a good team. It is one of the better ones I have ever coached in my life. Trust me, I have coached a bunch of them.”
With the game scoreless heading into the bottom of the fifth, Kalissa Hess reached on a walk with two outs. Leadoff batter Nicole Harris reached on an infield single. Hess went first-to-third on the play. A throwing error allowed her to score with the first run of the game.
“[Harris] has done that all year. She’s the one that sets the table and the rest of them come in behind her.”
Jefferson’s best scoring chance of the game came in the next half inning. The Cougars loaded the bases with two out after consecutive singles from Grace Dodson and Savannah Smith. However, Watts induced a groundout to escape the inning unscathed.
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“When those runners got on, she turned it up probably four or five miles an hour. She is pretty good at placing the ball where she needs to put it.”
The Knights (29-3) added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Watts’ RBI single scored Ellie McCormill, doubling the lead to 2-0. Watts allowed a single to Chloe Cowan in the seventh before collecting her 14th strikeout to end the game.
“I was relying a lot more on my backdoor and my rise,” Watts said. “I wasn’t throwing that hard today. I was definitely trying just to spin the ball and keep them on their toes.”
Cabell Midland, the top-ranked team in the MetroNews Coaches poll, went 8-0 in postseason play.
“When you beat a team like Jefferson, when you beat a team like University and St. Albans, you have done pretty doggone good,” Beckett said. “Drea shut everybody down. You can’t ask anymore of her than what she has given.”
“It means a lot, especially since we have been here the last three years,” Watts said. “We have made it to the championship but we haven’t won it. So it means a lot.”
Jefferson defeated University in an elimination game earlier on Saturday to advance to the championship round. Against the Knights, Jersey Rummel went the distance in the circle for the Cougars (24-6). She allowed just four hits and one earned run.