Williamstown baserunner Kiersten Kerby slides across home plate with her team’s final run during Tuesday’s 10-8 win over Ritchie County in Williamstown in an elimination game for Class A, Region I, Section 1. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

WILLIAMSTOWN — Williamstown’s mantra throughout the softball season is about never having too many runs.

Tuesday afternoon in a postseason elimination game with Ritchie County, the Yellowjacket bats took that approach to heart and defeated the Rebels 10-8.

Williamstown’s reward is a date with St. Marys as part of the Class A, Region I, Section 2 bracket. St. Marys is unbeaten in the draw, so the Yellowjackets (13-14) need two consecutive wins over a team which they have yet to defeat in three previous meetings.

“The very first game we played St. Marys we lost 7-5 — we hung with them, we hit the ball,” Williamstown coach Ron Stanley. “We know we can play with them.”

If the Williamstown offense resembles anything like it did against Ritchie County, there’s always a chance. Four Yellowjackets enjoyed multi-hit efforts against the Rebels, including Kameron Beck, Kiersten Kerby and Alexis Sivard who contributed three hits apiece to a 13-hit attack.

Beck more than made up for a couple of early fielding miscues after finishing a home run shy of the cycle.

Kerby followed Beck’s line to perfection with a double, triple and a pair of runs batted in.

“I was just cleared my mind and did my thing,” said Beck, who was seeing Ritchie County starting pitcher Lillian Monn for the fourth time this season. “She didn’t throw a lot of balls, so you had to jump on her pitches really quick.”

Lindsey Keller contributed a third triple to the Williamstown collection and ignited a four-run fifth inning with an RBI triple. The senior also pitched a complete game to earn the victory. Despite hitting a couple of batters and walking six, Keller managed to keep Ritchie County under wraps hen it counted.

The Rebels stranded nine runners on base, including the tying run on first base with two outs in the top of the seventh when she registered her fifth strikeout to secure the win.

“I just kept a cool mind, stay in the game and keep trying to throw strikes,” Keller said.

Ritchie County (12-14) did not produce its first hit until two outs in the top of the fourth inning and the Yellowjackets leading 3-0. The single by Kila Frymier, the first of three straight by Rebel hitters, drove home Lillian Monn with the team’s first run. Frymier later scored when Blake Butta’s reached safely on an infield base hit and the throw to first base sailed over the fielder’s head.

The score remained 3-2 into the fifth inning when Ritchie County took its first and only lead with a two-run frame. Olivia Dodd reached on a one-out walk and eventually scored on a fielder’s choice. Frymier’s second of three hits put the Rebels in front as Rindy Perkins crossed the plate for a 4-3 Ritchie County lead.

Williamstown committed two errors in each of the first two innings, but only committed one the rest of the game. Ritchie County, on the other hand, experienced its share of fielding woes as the Yellowjackets batted around in a four-run fifth inning.

Ritchie County’s resilience continued with a two-spot in the sixth on Jayci Gray’s two-run double. Williamstown tacked on a much-needed pair of insurance runs in the home half of the sixth inning thanks to Kerby’s RBI triple followed by Sivard’s RBI single.

Trailing 10-6 in the its final turn at the plate, Ritchie County received base hits from Perkins and Frymier. With runners at the corner at one out, Beck at shortstop made a nifty running catch in shallow right field. A couple of walks and several wild pitches later, and the Rebels were within 10-8 with runners standing at first and second base.

On a 2-2 pitch, Keller struck out the Rebels’ final batter on a pitch looking.

“Like I said earlier in the year, not in my wildest dreams did I think we would win 12 ballgames,” said Ritchie County coach Dave Mossor, who will enter next season needing seven wins to reach 800 for his career. “Injuries. Maci Ireland, we who we put in to pinch hit hasn’t been able to throw all year long. Our shortstop Marissa Jeffrey, her arm was so bad she coulnd’t do anything. My second baseman Baylee Butta played with a cast for part of the year.

“I had to call Cameron and Buffalo and told them we couldn’t make it because we had seven injured players and only eight healthy. I feel this is the best coaching job I’ve done in forever. I had to keep pumping them up.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com