New Richmond – Third time’s the charm? At least that’s what Bluefield will hope for.
Facing Wyoming East for the second time in five days, the No. 2-seeded Beavers fell to the top-seeded Lady Warriors 5-2 Tuesday in the Class AA Region 3, Section 1 Tournament in New Richmond.
With the win Wyoming East advances to the sectional championship game, needing one more victory to secure the title and advance to the regional round.
For the visiting Beavers it was the opposite of their loss on Friday to East.
They started slow Tuesday – going hitless over the first four innings, yielding a 5-0 to the Lady Warriors in the early going.
“We probably got a little too many hits yesterday,” Bluefield coach Barry Reed said. “I think we got 19 hits yesterday and I was standing there shaking my head saying we need to save some for today. Of course that showed. We got off to a rocky start and we walked a couple and just couldn’t get a hit the first four innings. They scored some runs early on us and I think after the third inning we kind of settled down. We just got off to a bad start.”
East meanwhile did enough to secure its victory in the first two innings.
Olivia Hylton opened the bottom of the first by drawing a walk and was joined on the base paths when Savannah Brehm did the same with one out. An RBI single from Andrea Laxton opened the scoring but a throw from the outfield to home plate on the play was late, allowing Laxton to take second.
After the throw home, Bluefield catcher Grace Richardson tried to catch Laxton between second and third but the throw to second rolled to the fence allowing both Brehm and Laxton to score.
In the second inning it was more of the same with Chloe Prichard and Maddie Clark reaching on a single and a walk, respectively, with one out. A hit batsman loaded the bases with two outs and Brehm delivered with a two-run single for East’s final two runs of the game.
The early fireworks were welcome with the Lady Warriors down their starting third baseman and top power hitter in Paige Laxton who injured her ankle against the Beavers on Friday.
“She probably would’ve batted had it been close,” East head coach Doc Warner said. “We didn’t need her today though.”
The run support was more than enough for Hylton who didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning but when they finally came the threat was real.
Jordan Jones hit a two-out single in the frame for Bluefield’s first hit and Grace Richardson followed immediately with a double. Cara Brown’s two-run single kept the rally alive though a 1-3 groundout stymied it momentarily.
The Beavers picked up where they left off in the sixth when Maddie Lawson reached on a single and was lifted for courtesy runner Tanaya Smith. Smith snagged second and rounded third base when Mykah Gregory hit a single through the middle but a throw from centerfielder Cammie Tilley was caught by catcher Kayley Bane who tagged Smith out a the plate for the final out of the inning.
An error in the top of the seventh gave Bluefield its last gasp before a double play promptly erased it and ended the game.
Now the Lady Warriors will get a day off with Bluefield and Westside facing off at Bluefield on Wednesday for another shot at Wyoming East. The loser of Wednesday’s game will see their season come to an end while the winner will need to beat East twice to win the section.
“I think the rest will be good for us,” Warner said. “I think we come back better when we rest Olivia, even though I thought she pitched her best game in awhile today. At the end there they hit the ball a little bit but we should’ve caught them.”
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
B: 000 020 0 – 2 5 2
WE: 320 000 x – 5 7 1
Pitching and Catching – B: Maddie Lawson, Cara Brown and Grace Richardson; WE: Olivia Hylton and Kayley Bane. WP: Hylton, LP: Lawson.
B: Grace Richardson 1-3 (2B), Cara Brown 1-3 (2 RBI), Maddie Lawson 1-1 (2 BB), Gregory 1-3, Jordan Jones 1-3; WE: Olivia Hylton 1-3, Kayley Bane 1-3, Savannah Brehm 1-2 (2 RBI), Andrea Laxton 1-2 (RBI), Alivia Monroe 1-3 (2B), Chloe Prichard 2-3.
