After a year away Midland Trail is back in the state tournament.
The underdogs and No. 2 seed in their section, the Patriots are on a postseason tear that’s seen them lose just one game. Now they’ll try to carry that momentum in to the state tournament Wednesday where they’ll open up with St. Marys at 9:30 a.m. at Craft Field in Little Creek Park in South Charleston.
The loser of Trail-St.Marys will play the loser of Petersburg-Buffalo in an elimination game at 4:30. The winners of the early games will play 30 minutes after the conclusion of the elimination game.
The two teams haven’t met this year but Trail head coach Candace Young is familiar with St. Mary’s having faced them in the 2022 state tournament.
“I think the group that we saw here a couple years ago, they were the young,” Young said. “They were the young team then and so they’re all kind of seasoned vets. They came last year and went toe-to-toe with Wahama as well. So I know I’m gonna see a seasoned team. We’re just gonna have to go out there and really string together seven good innings. But we’ve seen them down here and they’ve seen us down here. So it’ll be a pretty good matchup between us.”
St. Marys is led by ace and two-time all-stater Cali Masters.
She entered regionals with a 16-1 record and 196 strikeouts, complementing a 0.34 ERA. She’s solid with a bat too, boasting a .447 batting average. Zoey Winland wields dangerous bat as well with a .446 batting average, leading the team with 34 RBI. She also boasts 22 stolen bases.
Trail is led by freshman ace Madison Rader who comes into Wednesday with a 15-7 record and 1.89 ERA. She leads the team in batting as well with a .514 average and 20 RBI. Nevaeh Hall flanks her with a .431 average and team-high 24 RBI.
“It’s kind of a mixed bag there,” Young said. “We do have, we have some young ones. And I do have some seniors that have been there. But the last time we were here, my seniors, really, they were still kind of in their backup roles. So the only one that really has a lot of experience on the field here would be my second baseman, Jenna (Stonestreet). So while they have been here, you know, it’s kind of new for everybody involved. But yes, my seniors have been great leaders all year. So I think them having been here and seeing the ball and the level of play down here will be beneficial for everybody.”
So far this postseason Trail has relied on different facets of its team to pick up others. In a 10-error game more was needed from Rader to secure the win. In other games she’s needed run support to back her up when she’s had an off day.
At times Trail’s offense has struggled.
But in order to contend on the state’s biggest stage the Patriots need to fire on all cylinders.
“Yeah I think the success will come from us stringing it all together,” Young admitted. “We’ve tightened up the defense and Maddie has been great on the mound. And then really with just our hitting if we could string all nine of us together – we’ll have pockets of hitters at times, three or four this game, a different three or four the next game. If we can have the first two factors and then have one through nine hitting, I think that will be the main factor for us. We need to just keep playing the game like we have been lately.”
