Gallery by Karen Akers
South Charleston – Leaning on its previous state tournament experience, Midland Trail proved to be handful for defending state champion Wahama before falling to St. Marys in an elimination game.
Trailing 3-0 in the third, the Patriots made a late charge, getting the winning run to the plate in the seventh before ultimately falling 5-3 to the White Falcons Wednesday at Little Creek Park in South Charleston. In their second game they led 2-1 after an inning but a fifth-inning outburst by St. Marys invoked the mercy rule to end Trail’s season.
Opening the day with a team that’s accumulated a 53-2 record over the last two seasons (Wahama), the Patriots rebounded in the third to put the pressure on Wahama.
A Jessie Skaggs walk was followed by singles from Sydney Sheets and Chezney Skaggs with the latter’s hit scoring the first run of the game. An error in right field later loaded the bases and Jenna Stonestreet’s sac-fly made it 3-2.
“Wahama’s pitcher, you can’t say enough good things about her,” Trail head coach Candace Young said. “We just kind started figuring out where she was living and she kind of lived on that outside corner and we started taking that away and putting a stick on the ball and made some things happen.”
Wahama later cushioned its lead with two runs in the top of the fifth while Trail kept pace when Stonestreet’s single helped Campbell score after a throw to third was later thrown to second.
Trail battled to its final out, putting runners on first and second with one out but a pair of strikeouts ended the game.
In the second game the Patriots led 2-1 before St. Marys jumped out to a 7-2 lead, ultimately winning 15-5.
With the loss Trail finishes the season at 12-12 and will graduate two key players in seniors Meghan Gill and Chezney Skaggs but will return the core of its team.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
