SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — In its state tournament opener Wednesday against East Hardy, Wahama relied largely on the strength of its pitching and defense to claim a 2-0 win.
Wheeling Central’s Olivia Kiaski ensured the White Falcons wouldn’t increase their offensive production Thursday afternoon and led the Maroon Knights to an 8-0 victory across five innings of play at Rock Field B at Little Creek Park.
Kiaski was consistently in the strike zone despite not recording a strikeout, and limited top seed Wahama to four hits without issuing a free pass as No. 4 seed Wheeling Central was victorious in a winner’s bracket contest to improve to 2-0 in state tournament play.
“The biggest factor is the better we play defense, the better she pitches, without a doubt,” Central coach Buck Davidson said. “It helps her hit spots and you hit the pitch she wants you to hit. She’s not going to groove you one down the middle of the plate. I’m really proud of her. She’s stepped up in a big way these last two games for us.”
An error that resulted in a dropped fly ball enabled Bella Rine to score the game’s first run in the top of the first inning after she had reached on a double, and the Maroon Knights (21-8) were on top to stay.
Wahama (23-12) had its best scoring opportunity in the third after a leadoff single from Abby Flowers and a one-out single from Izzy Nance.
With both in scoring position, Kiaski induced a fly ball to shallow center off the bat of Audrey Reynolds for the second out, and then got Fiona VanMatre to hit a fly ball to left for the third out, allowing the Maroon Knights to preserve their one-run lead through three.
“We’re just not hitting the ball right now. We’re not making good contact and our timing is off,” Wahama coach Wes Riffle said. “Offensively, we’re not playing good ball right now. It’s tough when you can’t score runs and it puts more pressure and stress on your pitcher and defense. We’re going to regroup, talk it out and try to get a mental reset to see if we can figure it out before our next game.”
Kiaski worked around Gracie Banks’ two-out single in the fourth to keep the White Falcons off the scoreboard, and Central assumed complete control of the contest when it came to bat in the fifth.
Having amassed four hits through the first four innings, the Maroon Knights totaled nine to put up a seven spot and chase Banks from the pitching circle after each of the first four batters reached — a stretch that included a leadoff walk drawn by Morgan Miehle and singles from Rine, Maddie Miehle and Chloe Groome, the last of which allowed the first run of the inning to score.
Raylee Zirkle then replaced Banks on a hot afternoon, but she was greeted by Seneca Heller’s two-run single that made it 4-0.
“It’s been like that all year,” Davidson said. “Once one girl starts hitting and makes a little bit of noise, the rest of them jump in. It’s a really fun thing to watch when they all get going at the same time.”
Central would double that four-run advantage later that inning, including a run-scoring single from Kiaski to help her cause as well as a second single from Rine in the frame that brought Berklee Heller home with the eighth run.
Kiaski induced three straight ground ball outs in the bottom of the inning to end it early.
“When she hits her spots and we play solid defense, we’re a real tough team to beat,” Davidson said.
Rine accounted for three of her team’s 13 hits to lead all players.
Banks was charged with five runs over four innings. She walked two and struck out one.