The last time Midland Trail made the state tournament, most of the players on its roster weren’t even born.
But after 17 long years the Patriots are back, hoping to bring home a championship.
Winners of 17 straight, Trail is hoping to keep the momentum rolling when it opens against Ritchie County Tuesday morning at Little Creek Park in South Charleston. It won’t be easy.
Ritchie (21-5) is 5-0 in the postseason behind the arm of Chloe Elliott and her 1.12 ERA.
“We didn’t get to play them but I called some coaches that we had had teams in common,” Trail head coach Candace Young said. “Braxton County’s coach and I played together at Glenville so I messaged her and Nicholas County’s coach, but it seems to be their pitcher is a dominant player. She throws with some heat, so that’s something we’ll have to catch up to. I do know that they’ll have some kids with some speed, so they like playing the short game, stealing bags and things like that.
“We’re going to have to be ready for that.”
Both teams come to South Charleston in a similar predicament – neither have players that have played in a state tournament. Young does feel like she has an advantage when it comes to jitters – several of her players have played on the big stage.
The Midland Trail girls basketball team played in the state tournament in 2019 and 2021, with players such as Meghan Gill and Emily Dickerson getting that experience on the big stage. Young is hoping that translates over.
“I have several basketball players that just played in state tournament before coming over to play softball,” Young said. “Nerves come with it, but a couple of our players have been on this stage as far as the state tournament stage. In general though we don’t have much experience. Hopefully the experience itself doesn’t become overwhelming and they come into it just realizing this is a ball game. This is what we do.”
Leading the way for Trail is pitcher Emmie Lopetrone.
The senior has played in big spots throughout her career.
As a freshman at Valley she pitched against Fayetteville in the sectional championship and the next year, led the Hounds to the regional championship.
She comes into the state tournament with an 8-0 record and a 1.78 ERA.
“The first thing I noticed is that she doesn’t really get rattled,” Young said. “Right after we started the season we had a quick shutdown that impacted Trail so I was texting with her because I didn’t really get to know her because we didn’t get a season last year. We chatted about how she is in the circle. After our first game one of the things I commented on is how much I loved the mentality she had and the mental fortitude. She doesn’t get rattled. She knows there is a job to do. If she gives up a big hit, she shakes it off. She just has a confidence in herself.”
Lopetrone isn’t the only weapon Trail boasts.
Junior Meghan Gill has hit three home runs with a .491 batting average. She’s driven in 24 runs and in 31 innings pitched, she’s struck out 34 batters.
Leading the team in RBIs is third baseman Faith Bailes with 30, boasting a .507 batting average to go with it.
Scorching the ball the way the Patriots have, Young feels confident about her team’s matchup with Ritchie.
“We have to be smart about it,” Young said. “Right now we keep joking about if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. As far as lineups, we’re looking at the same thing but you know we’ll have to kind of gauge the speed of the game. Can we play small ball? How do they react to small ball? As the game progresses what’s the best approach for us? I do think we’re going to come in not sitting back. We’re going to be on the attack. My girls are very versatile so we’ll adjust as the game goes on as we need.”
Trail will open the state tournament on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. at Craft Field.
Contact Tyler Jackson at tylerjackson@lootpress.com, call him at 304-731-5542 and follow on Twitter @tjack94
