By TIM STEPHENS, The Herald-Dispatch
Josie Bird is known for her big flies.
The Lincoln County High School catcher’s prodigious power was a major factor in her being named captain of the West Virginia Sports Writers Association Class AAA all-state team Thursday. The junior smashed 13 home runs this past season and 39 in three years, despite frequently being pitched around, to help the Panthers to a 22-5 record and the Region IV finals.
“I can’t control what other teams do,” Bird said of pitchers throwing her four balls well outside the zone. “I try to do my job for the team. If they put me on, that just gives my teammates a baserunner on, which puts pressure on, too.”
Bird, who signed with Indiana, batted .500 with 40 runs batted in as a junior, She is known for massive homers, some that cleared the scoreboard in straightaway center field at her home park.
Bird smacked five doubles and one triple, drew 31 walks and struck out just six times in posting a .647 on-base percentage and 1.176 slugging mark. The Johnny Bench Award winner also starred defensively, with a .995 fielding percentage, making one error and racking up 32 assists.
“Josie changes a game with her abilities,” Lincoln County coach Tommy Barrett said. “When she’s at the plate, there’s no doubt that she’s the most dangerous player on the field.”
Bird was joined on the first team by Panthers teammate and utility player Ryleigh Shull, a junior who homered six times and batted .438 with 15 doubles. Shull, committed to Louisiana Tech, also posted a 1.47 earned run average in 17 games as a pitcher.
Pitching is a rich commodity on the all-state team, with Mountain State Athletic Conference player of the year Madison Pitts, a junior from Spring Valley, joining freshman Drea Watts of state runner-up Cabell Midland on the first unit. Pitts went 13-4 with a 2.09 ERA and fanned 194 batters in 144 innings. Watts posted a 1.40 ERA after taking over as the Knights’ No. 1 starter when Quinn Ballengee suffered a season-ending knee injury. Ballengee’s torn ligament likely was the lone reason she wasn’t a first-team selection as a shortstop, as she was batting .478 with five home runs and 15 RBIs when she was hurt.
Kadence Pettit of John Marshall earned a spot of the team after pitching the Monarchs to the state championship. She was joined on the all-state team by teammate Ava Blake, who signed with Marshall. Rebecca Munslow, a sophomore from Jefferson, also made the first team team as a pitcher.
Pitts’ teammate, sophomore third baseman Sydney Turner, made the squad after leading the state with a .623 batting average and 45 stolen bases to go with two homers and 14 RBIs.
Lauren Huebsch of University, Cassidy Cummings of Ripley and Sydney Young of St. Albans round out the first-team infield. Freshman Maggie Campbell of University and junior Becca Beatty of Parkersburg South made it as outfielders. South Charleston sophomore Sophia Frye earned a spot at catcher, with utility spots filled by Aubrey Smallwood of Woodrow Wilson, Tayven Stephenson of St. Albans, Alexis Adkins of George Washington and Micah Wilson of Morgantown.
Spring Valley’s Brooklyn Osburn, a utility player/shortstop headed to West Virginia Wesleyan, captained the second team, which featured Eastern Kentucky signee K.K. Wallis of Cabell Midland in the outfield with Air Force recruit Maci Lunsford of Lincoln County and Madison Marks of Parkersburg. Pitchers were Maddy Ruffner of Washington, Josi Erving of Greenbrier East and Hope Sizemore of South Charleston. The infield included Miami (Ohio) recruit Haleigh Adkins of Lincoln County, Punkie Harper of St. Albans, Faith Randolph of Wheeling Park, Shelby Harris of Jefferson, Karalyne Wade of George Washington and Taylor Boswell of Greenbrier East. Buckhannon-Upshur’s Alyssa Abel made it as a catcher.
Utility players were Kate Spry of Spring Valley, Landry Bone of Brooke, Kaitlyn Swisher of Ripley and Lindsey Black of Greenbrier East.
All-state plaques are available to all-staters at wvswa.org or bearwoodcompany.com. They are state-shaped, wood plaques inscribed with the WVSWA logo, name, high school and year of the honoree.
Class AAA
First Team
P – Madison Pitts, Spring Valley (Jr.)
P – Audrea Watts, Cabell Midlnd (Fr.)
P – Kadence Pettit, John Marshall (Sr.)
P – Rebecca Munslow, Jefferson (Soph.)
IF – Ava Blake, John Marshall (Jr.)
IF – Lauren Huebsch, University (Sr.)
IF – Cassidy Cummings, Ripley (Sr.)
IF – Sydney Turner, Spring Valley (Soph.)
IF – Sydney Young, St. Albans (Jr.)
OF – Maddie Campbell, University (Fr.)
OF – Becca Beatty, Parkersbrug South (Jr.)
C – Josie Bird, Lincoln County (Jr.) (CAPTAIN)
C – Sophia Frye, South Charleston (Soph.)
U – Aubrey Smallwood, Beckley (Soph.)
U – Tayevn Stephenson, St. Albans (Sr.)
U – Ryleigh Shull, Lincoln County (Jr.)
U – Alexis Adkins, George Washington (Sr.)
U – Micah Wilson, Morgantown (Jr.)
2nd Team
P – Maddy Ruffner, Wshignton (Sr.)
P – Josi Ervin, Greenbrier East (Sr.)
P – Hope Sizemore, South Charleston (Sr.)
IF – Haleigh Adkins, Lincoln County (Sr.)
IF – Punkie Harper, St. Albans (Soph.)
IF – Faith Randolph, Wheeling Park (Jr.)
IF – Shelby Harris, Jefferson (Sr.)
IF – Karalyne Wade, George Washington (Jr.)
IF – Taylor Boswell, Greenbrier East (Jr.)
OF – Madison Marks, Parkersburg (Sr.)
OF – Maci Lunsford, Lincoln County (Sr.)
OF – KK Wallis, Cabell Midland (Sr.)
C – Alyssa Abel, Buckhannon Upshur (Soph.)
U – Brooklyn Osburn, Spring Valley (Sr.) (CAPTAIN)
U – Landry Bone, Brooke (Sr.)
U – Kaitlyn Swisher, Ripley (Jr.)
U – Kate Spry, Spring Valley (Soph.)
U – Lindsey Black, Greenbrier East (Sr.)
Honorable Mention
Caraline Dunn, South Charleston; Liz Alsop, Morgantown; Jayla Bias-Smith, Huntington; Alexi Dellinger, Parkrsburg South; Rachel Mason, Bridgeport; Addison Veigel, Bridgeport; Kileigh Pugh, Bridgeport; Halee Jones, Oak Hill; Krista Durkin, Parkersburg; Makiyah Strothers, Wheeling Park; Alexa Foresha, Brooke; Emily Peterson, Morgantown; Mayci White, Riverside; Sophia Lehosit, University; Passion Holley, George Washington; Lily Carola, Greenbrier East; Abigail Harki, Morgantown; Olivia Masoner, University; Sidney Varney, Ripley; Tylie Barton, George Washington; Gracie Brown, Hedgesville; Alexandria Anderson, Hurricane; Emma Johnson, Princeton; Brenna Collis, Hedgesville; Faith Cooper, Hedgesville; Dalaynie Myers, Preston
