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Wheeling Central ­claims 2nd straight title

Wheeling Central claimed its second straight state softball title and 11th overall Thursday at Jackson Park in Vienna. Photo by Joe Albright.

VIENNA — With a three-run lead and a second straight championship within their grasp, Wheeling Central went to its “closer.”

Arguably the best pitcher in Class A, Riley Bennington hasn’t been able to pitch much this season because of an injury. When she told the team she was good to go to finish it off, how could Maroon Knights coach Rick Magruder and his coaching staff refuse?

The result was just as you would expect. Three innings of scoreless relief and Wheeling Central remained on top of the West Virginia Class A mountain with a 6-3 victory against Sherman to claim its second straight softball championship at Jackson Memorial Park.

“We are excited and just proud of the team,” Bennington said. “We all put a lot of work in and feel like we deserve this. It is a great feeling to be back-to-back state champs.

“They asked me (Wednesday) if I could pitch but with it raining, but I knew that wasn’t a good place for me to come in. (Thursday), I said ‘whatever you guys think.’ I was out behind the dugout warming up because you don’t want to go out there with a cold shoulder. It felt good so I went out there and gave it my all.”

Protecting a 6-3 lead, Bennington retired her first eight batters before allowing singles to Sherman’s Haylee Clendenin and Katlyn Jenkins. She struck out Sydney Seagraves to end the game and claim the championship as the Maroon Knights gathered at home plate to celebrate.

“These never get old,” Magruder said. “They battled and they don’t give up. We struggled with the pitcher from Sherman and we just put the ball in play. We made the most of some of the mistakes they made. Just a good overall team effort.

“Marissa (Garltiz), I can’t say enough about her and what she did for us this season. She got tired and Riley said she could go in and she finished out strong. Ambrose (Bober, Knights assistant coach) came to me and said Riley said we could use her if we wanted to. We thought about it and we didn’t want to damage it, but she said she was go to go. She finished strong and she was a gamer.”

While Bennington was dominant from the circle, her biggest contribution came at the plate.

All three games in the state tournament, Wheeling Central found itself trailing.

Down 3-2 in the third inning, things started to unravel for Sherman.

A dropped catch by the Tide right fielder allowed Hannah Mozingo to reach second and a sacrifice bunt from Julie Padden put her at third.

Bennington laced a single up the middle to tie it at 3-3.

The next inning, Emilee Ondrik singled, advanced to third on an error and scored later on a dropped ball, both by the Sherman shortstop.

With Maria Murphy and Mozingo each in scoring position, Bennington ripped a two-out triple to right field to clear the bases.

“She hit the ball good and that is what we needed,” Magruder said of Bennington. “All the way through our lineup has been hitting the ball real well lately and that was a big plus.”

Added Bennington: “Hitting is really complicated for our team. We are really off or on. We put in a lot of work in our style of batting. We saw (Sherman pitcher Autumn Thompson on Wednesday) and knew she had a lot of movement on her pitches. As a pitcher, you can tell what she is throwing and that just gave me an advantage and confidence when I was facing her. I was looking for an outside pitch to drive to right field.”

Seagraves, who picked up her diploma in a ceremony before the game, put the Tide on the board in the first inning with an RBI single.

Padden tied it for the Knights in the home half of the inning as she scored from third as Bennington was caught in a rundown. Bennington reached second base safely and later scored from third on an error.

A Seagraves single in the third drove in one with another run coming on an error to give the Tide their last lead at 3-2.

The Maroon Knights finished last season 33-0 and won a title, followed by another this season. How do you follow that up? Wheeling Central is already eyeing a three-peat.

“We definitely want to come back here and do it again. Definitely,” Magruder said.

Added a confident Bennington: “Oh yeah, we are definitely coming back next year.”

The Maroon Knights will have a good shot at that with all but one player on the roster returning. Mozingo is the lone senior on the team, giving Thursday’s victory an exciting, but bittersweet moment.

“All year we worked together and it means so much because we are such a team and we are so close,” Mozingo said. “The fact that we were able to pull together and everyone was a part of every single play and every single run.

“We are there for each other. We have been playing together for so long and being there for each other is what we do and how we run things. If you can’t get the hit, that’s OK because there are three other girls, four other girls, nine other girls that will get it for you.

“This is the perfect day to go out. I am going to miss them a lot so it is a little sad. It was a great year.”

Wheeling Central’s Bennington, Garlitz, Kaitlyn Ferns and Olivia Carpenter were named to the All-Tournament Team, along with Sherman’s Thompson, Jenkins and Sydnee Ferrell, Moorefield’s Rebekah Markwood and Emma Baker, and Fayetteville’s Ashley Fridley.

Class AA Championship

Herbert Hoover 8, Chapmanville 1

Herbert Hoover topped Chapmanville 8-1 in the final game of the state tournament Thursday.

Mallory Chapman homered to fuel a five-run third inning for the Huskies (27-6). Delani Buckner fanned 10 batters in the complete game effort in the pitcher’s circle.

Kelsey Naylor and Madison Bowles had two hits and an RBI each.

Chapmanville (26-5) was trying to replicate its three wins on the tourney’s final day last year, but came up one win short. The Tigers blanked Oak Glen, 11-0, Thursday morning to stay alive. After defeating the Huskies, 11-9, later in the day, Chapmanville was one more W away from a state crown. Alas, it was not to be.

Class AAA Championship

Hurricane 11, John Marshall 0 (5 inn.)

It was No. 3 in a row for Hurricane here Wednesday at Jackson Park as the Redskin girls notched their third straight West Virginia Class AAA state softball championship with a five-inning 11-0 victory over John Marshall.

On its march to the state title yet again, Hurricane got a masterful four-hit shutout from freshman standout Harlie Vannatter, who fanned seven Monarch batters and walked none.

After a three-run third, the Redskins salted away the win with an eight-run outburst in the fourth.

Hurricane’s 14 hits were highlighted by Katie Adams with three hits, including a home run, and four RBIs; Paige Scruggs with a homer and three RBIs; and both Jayme Bailey and Zoey Dunlap with two singles and two RBIs.

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