In addition to starting at catcher, Parkersburg South freshman Abbie Corbin bats leadoff for a Patriot team which competes at the WVSSAC State Softball Tournament this week in South Charleston. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

PARKERSBURG – Preparing for Parkersburg South’s second season for high school softball, coach Tim Burch and his staff tried to be creative in keeping his players engaged and ready for this week’s WVSSAC State Tournament in Charleston.

A total of 17 days will have passed since the completion of the Class AAAA regional tournament. During that window, the Patriots managed to play an opponent who qualified for state from another class.

“We had a lot of rain during that break, so we had to be creative with what we did being inside,” Burch said. “We made things interesting and kept it from being boring. It was challenging, but I think we did OK with that.

“We gave them Memorial Day weekend off. We needed to rest them – it’s the end of school and we don’t want them to be stressed. When they came back from that time off, we started to ramp it back up.”

South (19-8) drew the No. 5 seed in the eight-team field. The Patriots open the state tournament at Rock Field located in Little Creek Park against No. 3 George Washington (26-5). Game time is scheduled for approximately 1 p.m. on Tuesday.

Parkersburg South's Payton Mackey, left, is recognized as part of Senior Day earlier this season. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

The two teams have met three times, with GW having a 2-1 edge after winning the last two meetings.

On April 4, South defeated GW 9-3 at Godbey Field.

“George Washington plays solid softball – the first game we jumped on them,” Burch said. “The second game, we didn’t hit so well. In the third game we don’t make five errors, we don’t lose the game. Those were a game changer.”

In the double-elimination format, the South-GW matchup pairs with No. 2 University (25-5) and No. 7 Washington (16-8).

The losers of those two games hook up against each other at approximately 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, while the respective winners match up at approximately 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

Parkersburg South's Shyanne Hays, left, is recognized as part of Senior Day earlier this season. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Rounding out the field are No. 1 Cabell Midland (26-4) vs. No. 8 Jefferson (12-16) and No. 4 Morgantown (23-10) vs. No. 5 Hurricane (19-10).

“I thought we would be one step up at No. 5 – otherwise, the way I had the rankings when I turned mine in is the way it turned out,” Burch said. “We have seen all these teams except Washington and Jefferson. We didn’t see Morgantown, but we did play them last year.”

South’s strength is the pitching prowess of Division-I prospect Annie Shelton, a sophomore who surpassed 400 career strikeouts earlier this season. She also plays a pivotal role as the No. 2 hitter behind freshman Abbie Corbin, who has started a majority of her games at catcher.

“As a freshman, Annie did show some of that leadership – this year she has been fantastic exerting herself,” Burch said. “Physically and vocally, she shows leaderships because of her maturity and experience. She plays at another level with travel ball our kids have never seen.

“Abbie has not disappointed in any way. It’s not a big surprise to me because I knew what she was and knew she was a gamer. She can play anywhere on the field. She is only going to get better.”

The next three hitters in the batting order didn’t happen by accident with three seniors – Shyanne Hayes, Payton Mackey and Jaiden Vargas – occupying those slots.

“I wanted to bunch those seniors together for a lot of different reasons,” Burch said. “Those seniors are smart. Not only are they good ballplayers but they are smart and athletic. They are good kids and good leaders – all three of them. It’s cool to see how they speak with younger kids.”

Burch has spent nine years with the South softball program. No one on the current roster were involved when the school last competed at the state softball tournament 14 years ago.

“I can describe what this means to me in (two) works – truly blessed,” Burch said. “I’m a pastor and I don’t teach at the school, but I get the opportunity to lead the kids and try to help them win a state championship.

“It hasn’t hit me yet, and I will not try to let it hit me either. We need that first game because that makes the path so much easier. It not, the path is really hard.”