Gallery by Greg Barnett
Bluefield – Bluefield’s bats struggled to solve Wyoming East pitcher Carli Raye the first time through the order.
The second and third times, which came in the same inning? Not so much.
The Beavers sent 15 batters to the plate in the fourth inning, scoring 11 runs in the frame en route to a 12-2 five-inning victory in the Class AAA Region 3 Section 1 title game Thursday in Bluefield.
The win sends Bluefield back to the regional round for the second consecutive year where it will face the winner of Friday’s Section 2 matchup between Shady Spring and Independence the week of May 13.
Errors and free base runners hurt the hosts early as East scored its first run on an error in the outfield and its second on a bases-loaded walk in the second, holding a 2-1 lead through three innings.
But as they have throughout the sectional tournament, the Beavers’ bats got hot and never cooled off.
In the decisive fourth inning alone the Beavers collected four extra-base hits, none traveling further than the two hit by Izzy Smith, both two-run home runs from the senior pitcher.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever coached a game where the same player’s hit two home runs in the very same inning and that was special for her,” Bluefield head coach Justin Hall said. “You know she rose to the occasion like the whole lineup did in that inning. And it was important and it kept that energy going.”
“We really didn’t pick up on anything,” Smith said. “I think we were just really anxious in the box and I really think after we saw (Raye) and saw her speed, we saw what she had. We really just made a big adjustment in the box and I really think that’s what it was.”
The adjustment was effective as Raye, facing Bluefield for the first time this season, mostly mowed through the Beaver lineup her first time through. She allowed a leadoff triple to Abby Richardson in the bottom of the first, allowing her to score on a groundout but the following two innings yielded little for hosts who managed one base runner over that span.
“Early in the tournament we didn’t see the velocity we saw tonight,” Hall said. “We kind of anticipated that coming into tonight – that it might take us once through the lineup to getting used to getting that foot down earlier and going. And thank goodness we did.”
While Raye was holding the Beaver offense at bay, her own struggled to back her early efforts.
The Lady Warriors left two on in the first inning and three in the second, eliminating early opportunities to pad their lead.
That haunted them almost immediately in the fourth inning.
Taylor Mabry and Grace Richardson reached to open the frame, both scoring on a Maddie Lawson triple. Smith did her one better, launching her first homer over the fence in center. Snowballing, the momentum turned into an avalanche with Lawson and Smith both getting another crack later in the inning.
Lawson responded with a double and her third and fourth RBIs of the frame, followed once again by a Smith dinger to center.
“I said, ‘Keep the ball away from her, don’t go inside,'” East head coach Doc Warner said. “She threw a curveball and left it in the middle of the plate and she smashed it out that way.”
“I really wasn’t looking for anything, just to make contact and just put the ball in play, do my job and it just happened,” Smith smiled.
The win brings an end to East’s season, one that featured many new faces.
Warner answered bluntly when describing what it took to get back to this point.
“A miracle,” he said. “I ain’t got much. I’ve got maybe two ball players. We had two girls that didn’t play last year that came back out as seniors and they helped a little bit.”
Bluefield will have over a week to prepare for the best-of-three regional round which alternates. Game 1 of the series will be played at Bluefield with Game 2 switching back to the site of the Section 2 winner. Game 3, if necessary, will be played at Bluefield.
