St. Marys batter Brylee McGrady (16) hits the first of two home runs during the Blue Devils’ 4-1 win over Ritchie County, Thursday afternoon at St. Marys High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

ST. MARYS — Not even a week passed and already Brylee McGrady has given the brand new scoreboard at St. Marys High School’s softball field the lived-in look.

Thursday afternoon in a Little Kanawha Conference matchup with Ritchie County, the St. Marys junior hit a pair of two-run home runs as the Blue Devils split the season series with the Rebels after winning 4-1.

McGrady’s first blast occurred in the bottom of the first inning after Cali Masters doubled with one out. The no-doubter sailed to deep left field and hit flush with the scoreboard stationed beyond the fence. The ball hit the signage just below the message reading “State Champions.” Word got around the softball left a dent in the facing of the scoreboard.

“The pitch was inside, so I had to get my hands around on it,” McGrady said. “This was a really big game for us considering we lost to Ritchie at the beginning of the season. It was also big for LKC placement.”

Those two runs were all Masters needed as she struck out 19 and walked none. The senior took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Jayla Cox, out of the No. 9 slot in the Ritchie batting order, doubled down the third base line.

St. Marys pitcher Cali Masters struck out 19 Ritchie County batters during the Blue Devils’ 4-1 win, Thursday afternoon at St. Marys HIgh School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Up until that point, only one Ritchie County batter reached safely after getting hit by a pitch in the first inning.

“I don’t think I was throwing my hardest today – whatever I was doing, it was obviously working,” Masters said.

Behind the same two culprits, St. Marys tacked on two runs in the third inning. Masters went opposite way for the second straight at bat with a single to left field. After the courtesy runner stole second base, Ritchie elected to pitch to McGrady with a base open.

McGrady connected and went opposite field for a home run over the right field fence. Masters singled again in the sixth inning and this time McGrady received the ultimate compliment and was intentionally walked with first base occupied.

“On that second home run, I didn’t expect anything down the middle,” McGrady said. “She threw me an outside pitch and I just did what I was supposed to do with it. It was nice of Callie to get on base and set up those runs.”

Ritchie County pitcher Rocklyn Marcum gets ready to deliver a pitch during Thursday’s game against St. Marys. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Trailing 4-1 in the top of the seventh inning, Ritchie made life interesting for St. Marys. Rindy Perkins reached on a one-out error, and Baylee Butta and Kila Frymier both followed with bunt singles to load the bases.

Masters reverted back to her early success – the punchout – and struck out the next two hitters on just seven pitches.

“I just had to tell myself it’s over, mistakes happen,” Masters said. “I trust my defense a lot, so if I miss a spot I know they have my back. I just had to put those mistakes in the past and move on.

“It was just a great game for us as a team. If we come out against Doddridge and play like we did today, I think it should be fine.”

St. Marys won for the seventh time in its last eight games and improved to 13-4.

St. Marys catcher Brylee McGrady hit a pair of two-run home runs as the Blue Devils defeated Ritchie County 4-1, Thursday afternoon at St. Marys High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

The Blue Devils are scheduled to resume a suspended game with Doddridge County on Friday.

Should St. Marys hold on to its 4-1 lead when players take the field for the St. Marys half of the fifth inning, the Blue Devils are guaranteed one of three No. 1 seeds for the LKC Tournament.

“When I saw Brylee hit that first home run, I thought this is going to be a good game,” St. Marys coach Lacy Riggs said. “When she is in a rhythm, she is a powerhouse.”

“As a whole, we had a lot of contact. The last time we faced Ritchie, we had like 12 strikeouts. Our plate discipline was much better this game. It was phenomenal. We had really good at bats.”

Ritchie County (9-2), which had its six-game winning streak snapped, returned to Ellenboro to host Williamstown as part of its second game Thursday. A Rebels win secures the No. 2 seed for the league tournament and a berth in next Tuesday’s semifinals.

St. Marys’ Cali Masters, left, and teammate Brylee McGrady cheer on their teammates from the dugout during Thursday’s game against Ritchie County at St. Marys High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Ritchie County starting pitcher Rocklyn Marcum suffered her first loss in 10 decisions. Rebels coach Dave Mossor was closely monitoring Marcum’s back issues, especially after Marcum threw four games in the past week.

Other than allowing five combined hits to Masters and McGrady, Marcum pitched to contact successfully. She allowed six hits, issued four walks and struck out six.

In addition to being dominant on the mound, Masters continued to rake at the plate. After going 3-for-3 against Ritchie, she extended her streak to six straight plate appearances with a hit dating back to the previous game.

“Cali was on tonight,” Riggs said. “She was throwing hard. She was hitting her spots and her rise ball was working well.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com

Two of Ritchie County’s captains – Kila Frymier, left, and Lilly Monn – join the exchanging of lineups during Thursday’s game against St. Marys. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)