Gallery by Heather Belcher
New Richmond – The core of Wyoming East’s softball team is used to playing in big games.
Seniors Olivia Hylton and Paige Laxton have reached the sectional championship in all three of their seasons (Covid eliminated the 2020 season). Kayley Bane, Maddie Clark and Alivia Monroe played for a basketball state championship two months ago with the former two winning one in 2021.
That experience made the difference Thursday in the Class AA Region 3, Section 1 title game.
Capitalizing on four Bluefield errors, the Lady Warriors defeated the Beavers 5-1 to claim the sectional championship, advancing them to the regional round and ending Bluefield’s season.
In a rematch of last year’s title game, the Beavers fared better this time around, avoiding the mercy rule but their mistakes in get middle innings afforded the Lady Warriors all of the scoring opportunities they’d need.
They took advantage.
“I think we had some opportunities but four of the five runs were unearned,” Bluefield coach Barry Reed said. “We’ve talked about it in the past but we’ve got to get better in the circle and we’ve got some position players that have to get better.”
The first miscue came in a back-breaking spot with the Beavers unable to atone.
With two outs in the bottom of the third, East pitcher Olivia Hylton dropped a double in the outfield that rolled to the fence after a miscommunication, putting her in scoring position.
Her battery mate, Kayley Bane, hit a hard grounder to third that was fumbled and the throw to first was late and over the head of the first baseman, allowing Hylton to score the game’s first run.
Olivia Hylton hits a two-out double and Kayley Bane follows by hitting into an error at short, allowing Hylton to score. East up 1-0 after three #wvprepsb pic.twitter.com/fqIozRCE4M
— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) May 5, 2022
The Beavers had their chance to strike back and steal the momentum in the next frame when Abby Richardson hit a single to leadoff and Maddie Lawson followed with a walk.
A pop-out on a bunt attempt summarized the rest of the inning as Hylton followed with a strikeout and groundout to end the threat.
The bottom of the fourth unfolded in a similar manner for the Lady Warriors but the execution was there.
Andrea Laxton smacked a leadoff single and Alivia Monroe followed with her own single that was mishandled in left field, scoring Laxton. A bunt advanced Monroe, who took second when Laxton scored, and she scooted home when Makayla King grounded out to bring the former in.
“Same old, same old,” East head coach Doc Warner said. “We did just enough to win. We did the same thing we did last time when we got to the top (of the order) we didn’t do much but the bottom did. That’s the way it goes.”
Meanwhile the Beavers opportunities were continuously met with disappointment. A two-out walk followed by a single put runners on the corners for the visitors in the top of the fifth but Bane gunned down a runner trying to steal second for the final out.
The Lady Warriors made them pay again in the bottom of the frame when Bane singled and advanced to second on an error in the outfield, scoring when Savannah Brehm followed with an RBI single. The Beavers found a pulse when Richardson and Sandraya Dickey reached the corners with one out in the top of the sixth, with the former scoring on a fielder’s choice. That was Bluefield’s last gasp as Paige Laxton, who sat out all week with an ankle injury, launched her 11th home run of the season in the bottom of the sixth in a pinch-hit appearance, putting the finishing touches on the victory.
It was the same result for Reed’s Beavers who saw last season come to an end on the same field but the future appears bright.
“I’m just beginning at Bluefield High School,” Reed said. “This is my second year. We won 15 games this year and 16 last year. That’s 31 games in two years and that’s pretty good but next year I’ll be printing up some shirt or something that says ‘Let’s take the next step’ or something. I don’t know what the next step’s going to be but if we think about this the next step’s going to be winning a sectional championship.”
Wyoming East will be off next week, awaiting the winner of the Section 2 tournament – either Shady Spring or Independence. Shady currently needs one win to secure the championship while Independence will need two. The two team’s are scheduled to play Friday, weather permitting, but if not they’ll resume the series on Monday and play again on Tuesday if the extra game is necessary.
Wyoming East and Shady Spring have not played this season after the two schools agreed to put a halt to athletic competitions during basketball season. The Lady Warriors have played Independence twice though, splitting the season series. Both teams have an all-state pitcher East will need to prepare for.
“We don’t care,” Warner said when asked if he has a preference of which team he faces. “We’ll have to do a lot of hitting on the machine to get the speed down though.”
The regional round, a best-of-three series, will start Monday, May 16th at Wyoming East with game two shifting to either Independence or Shady Spring. Game three, if necessary, will be played at East.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
B: 000 001 0 – 1 3 4
WE: 001 211 x – 5 8 1
Pitching and Catching – B: Cara Brown and Grace Richardson; WE: Olivia Hylton and Kayley Bane. WP: Hylton, LP: Brown.
Hitting – B: Cara Brown 1-4, Abby Richardson 1-2, Sandraya Dickey 1-3; WE: Olivia Hylton 1-4 (2B), Kayley Bane 1-4, Savannah Brehm 1-3 (RBI), Andrea Laxton 1-3, Alivia Monroe 2-3 (2B), Makayla King (RBI), Paige Laxton 1-1 (HR), Chloe Prichard 1-3.
