South Charleston – Independence head coach Ken Adkins was hoping for more ground balls after his team’s 5-0 loss to Oak Glen in their first state tournament game of the day.
He got his wish, it just didn’t turn out the way he hoped.
Indy grounded out nine times, mostly softly, losing 9-1 in six innings to Herbert Hoover in the Class AA state tournament Tuesday at Little Creek Park in South Charleston.
The loss was the Patriots’ second of the state tournament, eliminating them and ending their season.
“We did better than we did in the first game,” Adkins said. “I thought from the get go we’d hit this pitcher better – we hit her the first time we faced her. We still struggled with plate discipline. When you’re behind in the count you’ve got to swing at some better pitches. We swung at some bad pitches today that were bad for us and great for their pitcher.
“We made some good pitches too with Delaney (Buckland). The difference is they fouled them off and hit other pitches and we would get a weak groundball out of it. We’ve just got to get better, but they’re a way more experienced team.”
The Patriots backed up their coach’s claim that Hoover starter Grayson Buckner was hittable.
Buckland and Alli Hypes opened with back-to-back infield singles, advancing to scoring position on a Kaylen Parks groundout. Buckland scored on a sac-fly from Destiny Blankenship but another groundout limited the damage to a run.
Parks moved the runners over and Destiny Blankenship gives Indy a 1-0 lead with a sac fly #wvprepsb pic.twitter.com/37pOMbnZ9r
— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) June 22, 2021
Buckland kept the Hoover bats at bay in the first but an error at third helped the Huskies get on the board in the second.
Buckner hit a one-out single, advancing to second when Abby Hanson reached behind her on an error. A double steal put both runners in scoring position and Hoover capitalized. Sydney Shamblin’s groundout plated Buckner and a single from Josie Fix scored Hanson.
The floodgates opened in the third, an inning which saw four Huskies score.
After Buckland secured the first out, six straight Huskies reached base, five on base hits.
“We just were patient,” Hoover head coach Missy Smith said. “We finally figured out if we just waited for our pitch that we could hit hard then we could be more successful. Whatever switch flipped, it flipped and I’m glad it did.”
When the smoke cleared Buckner, Hanson and Cortney Fizer had RBIs in the breakout frame with their team leading 6-1.
Meanwhile Indy’s offense flailed.
That Patriots had just one base runner after the third – Chloe Hart who led off the fifth with a double but was stranded. Hoover’s sure-handed gloves didn’t help either.
After committing four errors in their earlier loss against Sissonville, the Huskies played a clean game, cleanly fielding everything put in play.
“I fed them and asked them how much they loved Cortney,” Smith said when asked about the improvement on defense. “She’s our senior and I told them if you want to play another day with her then we’ve got to have a better game this afternoon and they wanted another chance to play with her tomorrow so they got it done.”
Fizer, to her credit, played her part.
With her team up 7-1 in the sixth and two on, Fizer lined a double into the gap in right that scored Sydney Bright and Brooklyn Huffman, invoking the mercy rule and ending the game.
The win keeps Hoover, the three-time defending champion, alive as the Huskies will play Sissonville on Wednesday morning.
The loss ends the season for Independence along with the high school careers of seniors Destiny Blankenship and all-stater Kaylen Parks.
“Holy cow, what do you say about Kaylen Parks?” Adkins said. “I mean four years of just tremendous hustle, tremendous heart and tremendous play. Destiny Blankenship was kind of like my diamond in the rough. Kind of like finding a corvette in the barn. She had a great year for us, had a great regional run and I think she can play college softball somewhere. Just two great seniors and we wish them the best.”
Contact Tyler Jackson at tylerjackson@lootpress.com, call him at 304-731-5542 and follow on Twitter @tjack94
I: 100 000 – 1 4 1
HH: 024 003 – 9 11 0
Pitching and catching – I: Delaney Buckland and Kaylen Parks; HH: Grayson Buckner and Sydney Bright. wP: Buckner, LP: Buckland. Hitting – I: Delaney Buckland 1-2, Alli Hypes 1-3, Destiny Blankenship (RBI), Chloe Hart 2-2 (2B); HH: Caroline Woody 1-4 (2b), Sydney Bright 3-4 (RBI), Cortney Fizer 2-2 (3B, 2B, 4 RBI), Grayson Buckner 2-3 (2B, RBI), Abby Hanson 1-3 (RBI), Josi Fix 2-3 (RBI).
