NEW MANCHESTER, W.Va. — Defending Class AA state champion Oak Glen used contributions throughout their lineup to collect their fifth victory of the season, 11-3 in 5 innings over Wheeling Central Catholic at the Suzan L. Smith Field of Dreams.
Each batter in Oak Glen’s starting lineup each reached base or drove in at least one run. The Golden Bears collected 13 hits while making just 13 outs at the plate.
“We told the girls to be patient,” said Oak Glen head coach Sherrie Garner. “They have to learn to see all the pitches and make good choices. And I thought they did good. I thought we had a good lineup just hitting the ball, putting it in play and giving us opportunities all through the lineup.”
The Golden Bears (5-3) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning behind a two-run double from Nevaeh Heath and a run-scoring single from Macy Hartung. Wheeling Central Catholic (3-3) pulled even in the second inning with a two-run double from Sydney Hupp and a run-scoring double from Morgan Miehle. However, Oak Glen junior pitcher Mattie Carney allowed just two hits in the final three innings. She truck out five batters in the complete game victory.
“That was our philosophy — one pitch and one inning at a time. Just keep playing. She’s a player and she is a competitor. She wants to come back every time.”
Oak Glen’s Brayley Lash went 4-for-4 with a solo home run and two runs batted in. Carney, Heath and Hartung also had multi-hit games for the Golden Bears.
“It is just repetition and getting more comfortable playing together, because it is a whole different team than we had last year behind Mattie, in a sense with different positions,” Garner said.
“We had a big week last week with traveling a lot. It is nice to be home. It is always good to have Country Roads on the music.”
Bella Rine and Chloe Groome had two-hit games for the Maroon Knights.