Gallery by Greg Barnett
Bluefield – For four innings Bluefield continuously put the ball in play but didn’t see its efforts reflected on the scoreboard, trailing 2-0 heading into the fifth inning.
But as they have been all postseason, the Beavers were potent after a couple trips through the order.
Bluefield erupted for nine runs across the fifth and sixth innings, claiming a 9-2 win over Independence in the Class AA Region 3 championship series Monday at Bluefield High School.
The series now shifts to Independence on Tuesday, weather permitting, where the Beavers can close out the best-of-3 series with a win and clinch the first state tournament berth in program history. Should the Patriots win, the series will shift back to Bluefield for Game 3.
Having not played since defeating Wyoming East in the sectional championship on May 2, the Beavers struggled to find gaps in the Patriot defense early but the fact that 11 of their 12 outs were recorded on balls in play was telling. And eventually the Beavers read the tea leaves and broke the dam.
“Yeah that seems to be a trend of late,” Bluefield head coach Justin Hall said. “I think it took them a little bit to just see the difference. We had a whole week off. And we threw everything we could add on throughout the week. But it took a moment to get comfortable and thank goodness, as we’ve talked before, they finally did.”
While the Beavers had opportunities, stranding four runners throughout the first four frames, Independence wasn’t as fortunate. The Patriots managed just two more hits (5) than they did errors (3) throughout the game, with three of those hits coming in the fourth inning.
“Well listen, we had eight fly balls and five (strikeouts) looking,” Independence head coach Ken Adkins said. “That’s what I mean. It’s not a formula for success. We’ve been here many times. We’ll go back and hopefully we get to play tomorrow. And we’ll go from there. We’re going to try to force the Game 3.”
Independence’s brightest inning came in the fourth where Alli Hypes reached on a leadoff double and later scored when Keandra Spurlock popped a home run over the right-field fence for Indy’s lone runs of the game.
Freshman hurler Kenzie Pierce held up her end for the most part until her defense began to crumble.
An error and a walk to the No. 8 and 9 hitters in Bluefield’s lineup spelled early trouble for the Patriots. A pickoff of the No. 8 hitter, Audra Rockness, on an attempt to steal third relieved some of the pressure before the top of the lineup kept the train rolling.
Abby Richardson and Taylor Mabry hit back-to-back singles to load the bases and an error on a fly ball allowed No. 3 hitter Grace Richardson to reach, plating Bluefield’s first run of the night. Maddie Lawson, an all-stater a year ago who finished the regular season with a .358 batting average, continued her postseason tear, bumping her playoff average to .636 with a two-run single that gave the Beavers a 3-2 lead.
The Patriots continued to boot the ball afterwards with Izzy Smith reaching on an error and Cara Brown reaching on another miscue that allowed Grace Richardson to score for a 4-2 lead. Lawson was eliminated on the play though, tagged before she reached third for the second out with the third coming one batter later.
Hoping to start a rally, Indy’s No. 2 through 4 hitters couldn’t land a hit against Smith who struck out nine Patriots on the night.
“Izzy actually pitched really good tonight,” Hall said. “There in the middle of the game we started losing location just a little bit. That helped contribute to that danger that scored the runs. But then she brought it back in there in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. In six and seven she pulled it back and was really good. The seventh inning, everything was perfect. Everything. She executed every pitch flawlessly.”
“Same story when we’ve lost games,” Adkins said. “Again we just didn’t make routine plays.”
The Beavers landed the knockout punch in the sixth with Lawson delivering the biggest blow.
Leading 6-2 after the No. 8 and 9 hitters (Abby Matthews and Rockness) reached via a single and hit batsman, the pair went on to score on RBIs by Mabry and Grace Richardson. Lawson then scored Richardson sisters Abby and Grace with a three-run blast over the fence in right-center for the final runs of the game.
“We’ve talked about it all season, we didn’t care what our win-loss record was in the season,” Hall said. “We wanted sectionals. We want regionals. That’s been the focus all year and I’m thankful and proud that they’re rising to the occasion.”
Bluefield will try to rectify recent history in Game 2. The Beavers won Game 1 of last year’s regional series against Indy before dropping the final two. In Game 3 they scored five runs in the top of the seventh to take a 7-3 lead before watching Independence rally with five runs of its own in the bottom of the seventh to capture the regional title.
“This is a seasoned group,” Hall said. “You heard when they announced them how many seniors we got. They’ve been here before. They’re enjoying the community being out here and being behind them. And they know the job’s not done yet.”
