SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Herbert Hoover had its backs against the wall trailing by one run through four innings of a Wednesday night matchup with Keyser at The Rock Field B at Little Creek Park.
The Class AAA No. 3 seed Huskies then picked the perfect time to start producing offensively and scored in the fifth inning to pull even, before adding four more in the sixth to create separation in a 5-2 win over the No. 5 Golden Tornado.
That the Huskies (27-9) have two pitchers they regularly rely on in Kaylyn Harper and Jocelyn Schafer proved particularly beneficial for Hoover as Harper was able to throw all seven innings and limit KHS (25-8) to the two runs on eight hits. She struck out a pair and perhaps most importantly, did not issue a walk.
“Our third game today, and all year long we’ve worked to develop two pitchers knowing that it could come down to needing them at the state tournament,” Hoover coach Missy Smith said. “Kaylyn and Jocelyn both threw lights out today. I’m super proud of them. The defense and offense came through when we needed them to.”
Still, with the Golden Tornado getting their own strong pitching performance from Leighton Johnson, the contest was scoreless through three innings.
Johnson then connected for a well-struck single to right field with two outs in the fourth that turned into much more as it was misplayed in the outfield, and the throw home got away from catcher Liz Turner, allowing Johnson’s aggressiveness to pay off in the form of the game’s first run.
“We had John Marshall on the hopes and had we made a couple more plays, we’d be a lot more rested, but these girls never wavered,” Keyser coach Cody Spotts said. “They kept their minds right. They were locked in from the get go. It showed. This team is scrappy and they don’t give up.”
With Johnson on an innings restriction as a result of Keyser’s two earlier games Wednesday, Keyser put Tavery Lyons in the circle in the fifth. She issued a leadoff walk to Katelyn Board, who came around to score the Huskies’ first run on a Turner groundout that tied the game at 1.
Hoover gained its first lead in the sixth after Johnson returned to pitch and Bella Haas tripled to left-center with one out and scored moments later when Ayva Veltri sent a fly ball to left that was dropped.
The error loomed large as Hoover wound up scoring three additional runs with two outs — first on a Campbell Lunsford double and again on Board’s double before Emma Hanson’s triple made it 5-1.
“That’s the only way to win at this level,” Smith said. “They’re not going to give you very many chances, so when you get one, you have to take advantage of it.”
Keyser countered with three straight hits with one out in the seventh and scored its second run on a Brielle Root single, but Harper maintained her poise and retired the next two batters to seal the verdict.
“They had quite a few clutch hits in the sixth inning,” Spotts said. “They found grass right where we weren’t. We were working with five innings for Leighton the rest of the day. I’m proud of these girls. We’re a super young team and we only have three seniors.”
The Huskies will take on John Marshall at 10:30 a.m. Thursday with the winner then facing Winfield in the state final.