SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Having claimed a 10-inning walk-off win earlier Wednesday against Herbert Hoover, Class AAA No. 2 seed Winfield had challenging pitching decisions to make for its winner’s bracket contest with top seed John Marshall.
The Generals’ lengthy game had lasted well into the mid-afternoon heat, but they managed to fire on all cylinders against the Monarchs and claimed a 9-0 win across five innings at The Rock Field B at Little Creek Park that moves the No. 2 seed within one win of a four-peat.
“When you have older, experienced players that have been through these games, it helps,” Winfield coach Steve Hensley said.
Winfield (27-10) standout Mattie Carroll, who pitched all 10 frames against the Huskies, was relegated to hitting-only duties to start this one. She still made a major impact early on, connecting for a two-run double in the first inning to give the Generals the early lead.
Two of the first three Monarchs to bat reached base against Emeri Nelson, but she induced a ground ball to ensure JMHS (27-6) stranded two in scoring position in its first trip to the plate.
Sienna Smith’s run-scoring single in the second upped the WHS lead to three runs, and it grew to five in the next inning, which the Generals began with three straight hits, including a RBI single from Brooklyn Cole and another from Carroll.
Nelson continued to excel in the circle and she was hardly under much stress thanks in large part to her team’s ability to consistently score.
Winfield pushed at least one run across in all five innings, including when Nelson helped her cause with a single to score Ava Cole for a 6-0 lead in the fourth.
“This group has been through these games and for the most part, they understand what it takes. It’s just about getting them to execute, focus and keep that consistency,” Hensley said.
The Monarchs committed a pair of costly errors in the fifth that helped lead to a two-run triple off the bat of Delaney Brumfield, before a Smith single made it a nine-run margin.
“Tomorrow is a new day,” Monarchs’ Robby Blake said. “The good thing about this tournament is you can get beat and still come out on top. Hopefully we can get that mindset and be ready to go and attack every game we play tomorrow.”
John Marshall threatened in the fifth with consecutive singles from Kaylee White and Inclan to start, but Nelson finished off her shutout by retiring the next three batters.
Nelson worked around seven John Marshall hits to prevent the Monarchs from scoring. She struck out and walked one.
“Emeri is such a good competitor,” Hensley said. “Mattie threw a lot of pitches in the first game and needed to rest a little bit. We were going to go with Emeri as long as we could. She’s a really good pitcher, but she’s really good at third base and shortstop, so when we do pitch her, it changes some things. We’ve had to work through that this year, but she’s done a great job for us.”
Smith, Carroll and Ava Cole had two hits apiece to key the Generals’ offense, which produced 11 hits.
Lily Dijkstra pitched 4.1 innings and took the loss after allowing nine runs on 10 hits with two strikeouts and no walks.
“There’s nothing we can do about it now, so we have to welcome it and run with it,” Blake said. “We have three pitchers and tomorrow we’re going to have to use at least two and maybe our third, too.”