Wahama wins at NOC
St. Marys finishes as runner-up, Roane past Doddridge in consolation contest
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GLENVILLE -- St. Marys softball found a silver lining on what otherwise was a miserable outcome in the championship game as part of Saturday's Little Kanawha Conference Night of Champions at Sue Morris Sports Complex.
After Wahama staring pitcher Mikie Lieving came within one out of throwing a perfect game in the White Falcons' 13-0 win in five innings, St. Marys coach Lacy Riggs gave kudos to the same opponent which handed the Blue Devils two losses within the past six days.
At the same time, Riggs remained confident her ballclub can make a deep run in the postseason, which begins on Monday. And who knows, should the respective schools survive regional play they would meet in the opening round of the Class A state tournament.
"Outside of the LKC championship game, we are setting good," Riggs said after her Blue Devils ended the afternoon with a record of 23-3 on the strength of a 10-0, five-inning win over Roane County in the semifinal round.
"I just hope the girls can let go of this and rebound on Monday," Riggs continued. "You can't dwell. It's a new game, a new day. Out of 16 teams in the LKC, we are the second one standing. I'm not going to complain. It just wasn't our day."
Combined with a 7-0 win over Doddridge County in the semifinals, Wahama covered all three phases of the game extremely well. Lieving struck out 15 and allowed just two singles to Bulldog first baseman Abby Thomas then struck another six Blue Devils while not allowing a baserunner until Ava Childers smacked the right-center field wall on the fly for a long two-out single in the championship.
The White Falcons claimed the LKC title for the third year in a row behind the power supply at the top of the order. Hitters two through four -- Amber Wolfe, Kalyn Christian and Morgan Christian -- combined for five homers in two games. Against St. Marys, Wolfe went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double, home run and five RBIs.
Just for good measure, Wahama (23-5) did not commit a fielding error while extending its win streak to nine straight games.
"The girls came together, played good defense -- they played two good ballgames tonight," Wahama first year coach Wes Riffle said. "We are playing hot right now. This is a confidence booster, obviously. St. Marys is a good team, so it's a good solid win over a solid team.
"The first part of the year when we lost to St. Marys the girls were still trying to adapt to some of the coaching changes. We knew what we could do, but our identity wasn't there. We changed a few things, they found their identity and started playing as a team."
Against Wahama, St. Marys opened with its lone senior, Ella Smith, as the starting pitcher. Smith allowed five runs on five hits over 2 2-3 innings. Cali Masters, who shut out Roane County in five innings in the semifinals relieved Smith and gave up three runs on one hit in 1 1-3 innings of work. Sophomore Rebekah Rupert wrapped up the final inning with Wahama striking for another five runs on five hits.
Against Roane County, Rupert opened up a close game with a two-run single as part of the Blue Devils' six runs in the home half of the third inning. Leading 7-0, the Blue Devils tacked on another three runs in the fourth inning.
"Cali pitched awesome in that game," Riggs said. "We hit when we needed to hit. We went in and took care of business and took advantage of runners we got on base. Manufactured a couple of runs -- makes a difference when you put the ball in play.
"After the Wahama game, I told the girls we haven't given up all season -- we are not going to give up now. I want to see a heart I know we have. We will get started with sectionals on Monday. This is over."
Wolfe, along with Kalyn and Morgan Christian each went yard against Doddridge County and put the game out of reach with a four-run sixth inning. Lieving struck at least two Bulldog hitters in every inning.
Lieving stated her arm felt even better against St. Marys and struck out five in the first three innings, With St. Marys down to its final out, Lieving had allowed just two balls to leave the infield the entire game. Childers took a 2-0 offering and nearly put a hole through the padded wall with the force she provided off the bat.
Any hopes of a rally were quickly extinguished as Lieving struck out the final batter.
"I did -- I just knew," Lieving admitted when she was aware she had a possible perfect game brewing.
"I care that we won, that's all that matters," Lieving continued. "The longer I pitch the more I get my groove, so against St. Marys I tried to stay true to who I was."
After Wahama secured its win, Doddridge County and Roane County were wrapping up the consolation game next door. Lacy Mitchell's three-run home run in the top of the first inning gave Roane County a 3-0 lead it would not relinquish. The Raiders held on 4-3 and moved to 20-6. The Bulldogs slipped to 21-9.
Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com