SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — In its lone state tournament loss to this point, John Marshall squandered several scoring chances before the contest got away from the Monarchs in a 9-0 loss to Winfield.
So as the No. 1 seed prepared to play No. 3 Herbert Hoover on Thursday morning for the right to advance to the championship round, Monarchs’ coach Robby Blake wanted to see a more aggressive approach from the lineup, particularly when opportunities arose with runners in scoring position.
That message was heard loud and clear and John Marshall scored four runs in the third inning to open up a sizable lead before holding off the Huskies, 7-4, at The Rock Field B at Little Creek Park.
“We challenged them this morning to be aggressive at the plate and to attack the ball, which we didn’t do yesterday,” Blake said. “We had seven hits against Winfield but stranded nine baserunners. We challenged them today to focus on getting the barrel on it and that’s what they did.”
With the win, JMHS (28-6) moves on to the state championship round where No. 2 seed and three-time defending state champion Winfield awaits. The Generals are 3-0 in state tournament play to this point, meaning they need one victory before two losses for a four-peat.
“We know how great Herbert Hoover and Winfield are and this is not going to be an easy task,” Blake said. “But we’ve played well all year. We’re in the final with Winfield and that’s probably where it should be.”
A bad break cost the Huskies (27-10) the first run as Taylor Jones’ double bounced over the center field fence, meaning Bella Haas had to stop at the third base with two outs. Campbell Lunsford then grounded out to shortstop as Monarchs’ pitcher Lily Dijkstra stranded two left in scoring position.
John Marshall capitalized on a Husky error to start the home half of the second and broke a scoreless tie when Paisley Babiczuk tripled to the gap in left-center to bring in the first run.
The Monarchs began the third with consecutive singles from Nora Shock and Kaylee White, the latter of which brought in their second run.
Later that inning, Emma Finley sent a chopper to short and in an effort to prevent a run from scoring, Lunsford threw home, but White crossed the plate to make it 3-0.
“They stepped up when they needed to. We had a couple miscues I’d like to have back, but you don’t have time for that,” Hoover coach Missy Smith said. “Errors will cost you, and if you make plays, you’ll win.”
Jocelyn Schafer came on at pitcher in place of Kaylyn Harper in that inning, but JMHS added to the advantage with a Aubrey Lilley run-scoring triple and Tessa Dougherty’s single the scored Lilley to leave HHHS with a 5-0 deficit.
The Huskies didn’t go away quietly and scored twice in the fifth to charge back, though after having seven straight batters reach base to start that inning, they could and likely should have cut into their deficit more.
The Monarchs recorded the first out of the inning at the plate on Haas’ single up the middle, and when Veltri followed with a single that scored Kyleigh Elmore, it allowed Hoover to score its first run, but assured that JMHS had prevented at least another one from scoring on the first out.
Jones followed Veltri’s single with one of her own that made it 5-2, though an out at third in a rundown dampened the celebration some.
“The more pitches we saw, the more comfortable we got and we were finally able to barrel it up a bit and make good contact,” Smith said.
Later in the fifth, Lunsford doubled to left-center, but it hopped over the fence causing Jones to stop at third.
After Katelyn Board drew a walk to load the bases, the inning came to an end when Emma Hanson sent a ground ball toward the pitching circle that Dijkstra handled.
John Marshall got separate two-out run-scoring singles in consecutive at bats from White and Masyn Inclan in the sixth to regain its five-run lead.
“We wanted to attack the ball today and we consistently did that,” Blake said.
The Huskies again came charging back in their final at bat and down to their last out, Board belted a two-run double to center to make it a three-run margin.
Hanson followed with a groundout that prevented Hoover from bringing the tying run to the plate.
Dijkstra surrendered 11 hits, struck out a pair and walked two over seven innings.
Shock, White and Inclan had two hits apiece.
Haas finished 3-for-3 and Jones added three hits in defeat.
Harper pitched 2.1 innings and allowed four runs on five hits, while Schafer threw 3.2 frames and scattered three runs on four hits.
“We could’ve got run-ruled. They came out and got on us and we didn’t quit,” Smith said. “We fought for all seven and you always want to win it, but if you’re here on the final day of the state tournament, it means you’re one of the top three programs, and that says a lot about our girls.”