St. Albans' Paige White just gets back to the bag in time as Parkersburg's Krista Durkin applies the tag during the Red Dragons' 12-8 win Friday evening at Larry Allen Field. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

PARKERSBURG — St. Albans and Parkersburg went back and forth here Friday evening at Larry Allen Field, but the Red Dragons pushed four runs across in the top of the seventh as second-year head coach Katie Adams’ squad snapped the Big Reds’ four-game winning streak and left town with a 12-8 Mountain State Athletic Conference victory.

Red Dragon starting pitcher Kinzie Short (5 IP, 2 BB, 4 SO) didn’t factor into the decision, but went 4-for-5 with two runs-batted-in. Catcher Hannah Vriendt had a 3-for-5 effort and scored thrice while Carlee Parker and Cat Karnes also knocked in a pair of runs apiece.

‘We answered. We just didn’t answer in the end,” admitted PHS head coach Erica Cameron, whose program heads for a 10 a.m. game today at Buckhannon-Upshur before taking on Elkins at noon. “It’s rough. It is rough.

“There are some things we could’ve done differently. We’re playing down. We didn’t have Kendall (Kimes) in the outfield. The bottom of our lineup came through. We saw a lot of activity from them so I’m really proud of them for pulling through and helping out.”

Parkersburg (8-10, 5-8) grabbed an 8-7 lead after pushing a run across in the fifth.

St. Albans left fielder Aydrien Toney grabs a fly ball off the bat of Parkersburg's Krista Durkin during the Red Dragons' 12-8 win Friday evening at Larry Allen Field. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

JoJo Wilson had an infield single, losing pitcher Addi Cameron (3 IP, 3 BB, 1 SO) followed with a bunt single and the bases were loaded after Short walked Ella Collins. However, Short fanned Piper Rutter and after Danica Coffman had a bunt back to the pitcher that plated Wilson, Cameron tried to score and was thrown out at home by Parker as Vriendt applied the tag just in time.

Vriendt’s one-out double in the sixth was followed by a Parker run-scoring single to square it heading to the seventh, but the Red Dragons left the bases loaded.

No. 9 hitter Millie Maier had her second slap single to open the four-run seventh as the visitors sent nine batters to the plate. Leadoff hitter and winning pitcher Kailee Lacy (2 IP, 0 BB, 2 SO) followed with a single to left that allowed Maier to score the go-ahead run after a PHS outfield error.

White followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 10-8. A two-out free pass to Parker, a Short double and a base on balls to Aydrien Toney loaded the bases for Karnes, who stroked a two-run single to left.

“Kinzie has been doing a great job,” said coach Adams, who watched her retire six of the seven batters she faced after relieving Short with the only blemish being a two-out single by Krista Durkin in the sixth. “She’s obviously newer. I mean we had (first team all-stater) Ava Bentley last year so we relied on her a lot. Just getting Kinzie comfortable and getting those innings under her belt.

Parkersburg's JoJo Wilson hits a single during the Big Reds' 12-8 setback to St. Albans on Friday evening at Larry Allen Field. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“I think she’s done a wonderful job for us. She’s held us in a lot of ballgames, but it’s good to see her defense show for her and then our bats show up, too. Just super proud of them. I mean we’ve had trouble getting back up when we’ve gotten down and they just kept punching back. Every time they would score some runs we had quality at-bats, got runners on, moved them and played old school ball.”

St. Albans scored three times in the first off Big Red starter Camella Cooper, but two outfield errors led to an unearned run as Short and Toney had the only runs-batted-in.

A two-out free pass to Lacy was followed by Paige White’s RBI double for a 4-0 cushion heading to the last of the second.

PHS, which plays at 10 a.m. today at Buckhannon-Upshur and then takes on Elkins at noon, put up a three spot in the last of the second. Cooper and Wilson had back-to-back singles and Cameron followed with a run-scoring knock before Collins had a two-run single.

St. Albans fell behind 5-4 after three. PHS catcher Gabby Dennis, who was replaced by courtesy runner Eva Baillargeon, reached on an error. Durkin, who went 3-for-4, singled and Cooper had an RBI groundout that led to Durkin scoring after another throwing error.

Parkersburg shortstop Brynn Frye makes a throw to first during the Big Reds' 12-8 setback to St. Albans on Friday evening at Larry Allen Field. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Parkersburg’s advantage was short-lived as Vriendt, Parker and Short delivered run-scoring singles in the fourth, which all came with two outs.

However, the Big Reds tied it at seven after scoring twice in the bottom of the frame, which also came with two outs. Brynn Frye had a single to left and Dennis followed with a hit up the middle as Durkin produced a two-run single to left-center.

St. Albans (10-11, 7-7), which was playing for the fifth straight day after also playing five games last week, will have a few days of rest before returning to action at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Independence.

“Just building our confidence a little bit,” added Adams, who was a two-time Mountain State player of the year (2016/17) for Hurricane before continuing her career at Marshall University.

“We’ve had a couple rough games this week. I think this week we scored one run in like 21 innings so busting it open, I guess they were saving all the runs for today.”

Parkersburg pitcher Camella Cooper fields a bunt during the Big Reds' 12-8 setback to St. Albans on Friday evening at Larry Allen Field. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

St. Albans 12, Parkersburg 8

WP: Kailee Lacy 2IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 2SO

Parkersburg center fielder Danica Coffman makes a catch during the Big Reds' 12-8 setback to St. Albans on Friday evening at Larry Allen Field. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Kinzie Short (starter) 5IP, 10H, 8R, 6ER, 2BB, 4SO

LP: Addi Cameron 3IP, 8H, 5R, 5ER, 3BB, 1SO

Camella Cooper (starter) 4IP, 8H, 7R, 6ER, 4BB, 4SO

St. Albans (10-11, 7-7 MSAC) hitting: Lacy 1-4, 2 R; Paige White 1-2, 2 R, 2B, RBI; Hannah Vriendt 3-5, 3 R, 2B, RBI; Carlee Parker 2-4 R, 2 RBIs; Short 4-5, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBIs; Aydrien Toney 1-2 RBI; Cat Karnes 2-5, 2 RBIs; Millie Maier 2-4, 2 R

Parkersburg (8-10, 5-8 MSAC) hitting: Brynn Frye 1-4; Gabby Dennis 1-4; Eva Baillargeon 2 R; Krista Durkin 3-4 R, 2 RBIs; Cooper 1-3 R, RBI; JoJo Wilson 2-4, 2 R; Cameron 2-3 R, SB, RBI; Ella Collins 1-3, 2 RBIs; Danica Coffman RBI

Next games: St. Albans at Independence, 6 p.m. Wednesday; Parkersburg at Buckhannon-Upshur, 10 a.m. today; vs. Elkins at noon